FL - Anna Kepner, 18, dies aboard Carnival cruise ship traveling from Miami to Caribbean, FBI launch probe, 7 Nov 2025

[lonetraveler]

Anna's ex-boyfriend has mentioned that he would have been on the cruise if they hadn't broken up. I wondered at the time if it was hopeful thinking, but more recently have wondered if he was actually part of the original plan. Cruises are often planned many months in advance. If the original plans involved the ex-boyfriend, a likely arrangement would have been younger children the (step)parents, the three teen males in a separate cabin, and Anna staying with grandparents. Something many of us would have seen as a rational arrangement. Possibly, when the ex was no longer in the picture, moving Anna from the grandparent's cabin to the teen cabin may have been seen as a way to give her a full bed.

From what we have now heard, I don't think stepbrother and boyfriend in the same cabin would have been a happy combination.

Sounds entirely plausible.

 

[lonetraveler]

Would a custody battle be more along the lines, of, "no, you take him". "No, you take him"? He doesn't seem to be much of a prize.

If my daughter had been murdered by him, I certainly would not want him in my home.

 

[su5ie]

Has it been reported where the life jackets came from or who got them and brought them to the room

 

[lonetraveler]

Has it been reported where the life jackets came from or who got them and brought them to the room

Each room has their own life jackets stored in a closet, usually.

 

[JudyBolton]

I wonder if he will speak up and admit that his daughter was put in danger by putting her in a room with the step-brother or is he going to lie to help his wife's son.

I think I remember that the step-mom asked the judge to seal everything but he did not, only certain things. I wonder how much of this hearing and ruling will be available to the public.

 

[Lebowski]

...

My question is why is Kepner avoiding the subpoena? Why not tell the truth on the witness stand?

...

(snipped by me)

normally, i might be suspicious of uncooperativeness. in this instance, i suspect something dumber like entitlement or childish defiance.

 

[Stunned]

(snipped by me)

normally, i might be suspicious of uncooperativeness. in this instance, i suspect something dumber like entitlement or childish defiance.

I begrudgingly agree!

 

[PayrollNerd]

(snipped by me)

normally, i might be suspicious of uncooperativeness. in this instance, i suspect something dumber like entitlement or childish defiance.

Same. I bet he’s thinking “It’s not my custody case. I don’t have to participate.” And he’d be correct, it’s not his custody case but the sidebar is, sadly your daughter lost her life. Step up for her. She deserves justice! JMO

 

[Mauritius]

Great post! Couldn’t help but notice you’ve been a member for 9 years and that was your first post!

Welcome to Websleuths @Mauritius

I can’t believe it either! Thank you for noticing

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

Off topic posts discussing removed posts and/or moderation have been removed.

If members have a question or concern, please jump off any post with the Report feature to ask the Mods so the thread doesn't get derailed with off topic discussion.

We can't announce all things in all threads to let members known what's new, so it's always wise for members to occasionally check the ANNOUNCEMENTS forum stay up to date with information that needs to be conveyed to almost 250,000 members.

Thanks to Gemmie who did provide this link to the relevant post but it was removed as part of the entire OT convo.

Move on from that discussion please and Thanks !!

 

[lcookster]

Yes until Tabitha’s live in boyfriend allegedly molested Anna.

That is a lot of changing schools in hs.

I am confused? Where is there a verified or reliable source that tells us Tabitha's live in boyfriend molested Anna? Have I missed something?

 

[Tricia]

Photo source was a screen capture from this Youtube video

Thank you @Mdcastle

 

[steeltowngirl]

“This is a very violent death, it’s very personal, because if we are to believe what we have been, at least at this point, told, we’re talking about probably quite a bit of blunt force trauma – it almost seems rather savage,” Joseph Scott Morgan, a forensic science expert at Jacksonville State University, told The U.S. Sun.

“Anytime we go out on a scene that is a death investigation, one of the things that we look at is the status of the remains.

“And in this particular case, we have to assume that her face was covered because she’s wrapped. If her face was covered, many times that’s an indication that the perpetrator knew the victim.
Morgan described the way Kepner’s body was found as “infantile,” despite the suspect having an opportunity to conceal the crime.

[…{
“It think what really stands out the most to me is that there was a real opportunity, probably for whoever did this to have disposed of the remains in a more effective manner,” Morgan said.

“Let’s face it, you’re on an ocean-going vessel, but yet, it seems almost infantile that someone would take the remains of this sweet young girl wrap them, and then literally stow them beneath a bunk or a bed and then make this half-hearted attempt to cover her with life preservers.

The Sun

The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities

www.the-sun.com

Who's expected to appear at the Dec. 5 hearing?​

The family custody hearing is set for 9 a.m. at the Viera Courthouse.

New subpoena documents FOX 35 obtained show that a Florida Department of Children and Families employee, two people affiliated with Kepner's school – Temple Christian School – and Kepner's father, Christopher, are expected to attend the Dec. 5 hearing.

It's not known if Kepner will attend, after documents show he did not receive court papers in person, rather they were left on a car registered to Kepner.

Anna Kepner death aftermath: Upcoming custody hearing follows tragedy

In an upcoming custody court hearing, it's possible more information about Anna Kepner's death may be released.

www.fox35orlando.com

 

[tlcya]

Shauntel testified at the hearing that the room Anna had been assigned was directly across the hall from the cabin she stayed in with her husband and the family’s two 9-year-olds. She denied allowing any of the children to have access to alcohol, despite the ship being in international waters, and said that Anna chose to stay in the room with two teenage boys after she was given the alternative option of staying two floors above with her grandparents.
[snip]
Judge Michelle Pruitt Studstill refused to grant the petition, noting that the 16-year-old suspect has been removed from Shauntel’s home and has been staying with a maternal relative since leaving the cruise.
New details about Anna Kepner's cruise revealed during custody hearing

1st paragraph, MOO some choice, this 18 year old girl was given: Room with your younger teen step brothers one of whom has already treated you poorly and been creepy, or your grandparents.

2nd paragraph - so it appears TH is NOT in a residential program or juvenile mental health facility, he staying with an unnamed relative of his mother's.

 

[Herat]

I don't see anything wrong with asking Anna to share a cabin with her grandparents.

This cruise has got to be fairly expensive for all those people. I think the better choice would have been to have Anna, her mother and the two smaller girls in the same cabin, then her father and the boys in a second cabin.

 

[tlcya]

I don't see anything wrong with asking Anna to share a cabin with her grandparents.

This cruise has got to be fairly expensive for all those people. I think the better choice would have been to have Anna, her mother and the two smaller girls in the same cabin, then her father and the boys in a second cabin.

As an 18 year old young woman, and I acknowledge everyone is different, I would not enjoy being on a cruise ship sharing living/sleeping quarters with my grandparents. JMO

 

[Gemmie]

As an 18 year old young woman, and I acknowledge everyone is different, I would not enjoy being on a cruise ship sharing living/sleeping quarters with my grandparents. JMO

As close as she was to her Memaw and Pepaw, and how UNclose she was with a teen boy not even in the house a year, I'd have bunked with Memaw and Pepaw.

I wouldn't want to be as close as you'd have to be in their cabin, naked under her pajamas, and sharing it with a 16 year old boy with raging hormones. Especially one that it's been said was inappropriate to her in the past (laid on top of her according to her ex-BF). Nope. No way, no how.

With that said... she's still be alive if she had accepted their offer.

 

[tlcya]

As close as she was to her Memaw and Pepaw, and how UNclose she was with a teen boy not even in the house a year, I'd have bunked with Memaw and Pepaw.

I wouldn't want to be as close as you'd have to be in their cabin, naked under her pajamas, and sharing it with a 16 year old boy with raging hormones. Especially one that it's been said was inappropriate to her in the past (laid on top of her according to her ex-BF). Nope. No way, no how.

With that said... she's still be alive if she had accepted their offer.

which may be why I bristle at Shauntel's statements in court about the rooming arrangements. She laid it at Anna's door, the suggestion being, Anna picked that room, she had another option. Feels to me as if she is somehow laying this at Anna's feet and not the responsible party.

 

[Arkay]

which may be why I bristle at Shauntel's statements in court about the rooming arrangements. She laid it at Anna's door, the suggestion being, Anna picked that room, she had another option. Feels to me as if she is somehow laying this at Anna's feet and not the responsible party.

Same, and of course Anna isn’t here to verify this.

I’d guess the younger brother who was locked out of the room would be the only one who could testify as to how they were all getting along in that cabin prior, but I imagine he is traumatized.

JMO

 

[Stunned]

Same, and of course Anna isn’t here to verify this.

I’d guess the younger brother who was locked out of the room woild be the only one who could testify as to how they were all getting along in that cabin prior, but I imagine he is traumatized.

JMO

Or Annas father, but hes still trying to figure out what happened in the cabin. So no help from him. IMO