Who was Anna Kepner? The teen cheerleader whose body was mysteriously found on a Carnival cruise ship

New York Post

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00:00A grieving father said his family had their world turned upside down

00:03after a maid on a Carnival Horizon cruise ship made a disturbing discovery.

00:08The lifeless body of an 18-year-old girl, stuffed under a bed and wrapped in a blanket.

00:13Who was Anna Kepner, the bubbly straight-A student whose body was mysteriously discovered?

00:19And why are the feds now eyeing her 16-year-old stepbrother as a suspect?

00:23Here's everything you need to know.

00:24The Florida teen affectionately nicknamed Anna Banana and her blended family set sail on November 2nd from Miami

00:31for a six-day Carnival cruise, which was supposed to set sail throughout the Caribbean.

00:36The teen was on the ship with her father, Christopher Kepner, and her new stepmom, Chantelle Hudson,

00:42whose two teenage sons were also in tow on the voyage.

00:46Before tragedy struck, Anna had plans to join the U.S. Navy after graduation and eventually become a K-9 police officer.

00:52But on the fourth night of the cruise, the fun-loving teen reportedly told family members at dinner

00:57that she was not feeling well and decided to go back to her room, according to the Daily Mail.

01:02When she didn't show up for breakfast the next morning, a desperate search was made of the massive ship,

01:07which can carry nearly 4,000 passengers.

01:09The search came to a disturbing end when a maid on the ship made a grisly discovery.

01:14Anna was reportedly found dead, wrapped in a blanket, covered in life jackets,

01:18and crammed underneath a bed inside the cabin she shared with her 14-year-old and 16-year-old stepbrothers.

01:24The shocking death prompted the Carnival cruise ship to abruptly change course for the port of Miami, Florida,

01:29where the FBI Miami office jump-started the investigation,

01:33since the teen's death occurred in international waters somewhere between Mexico and Miami.

01:38Video shot by WSVN7 journalist Sheldon Fox and posted on X

01:43captured the moment the medical examiner appeared to remove Anna's body from the ship.

01:47The Miami-Dade County medical examiner lists the teen's time of death as 11.17 a.m., November 7th,

01:54but does not mention any official cause or manner of death.

01:58A haunting picture of Anna was also dug up, posted on social media just weeks before her death.

02:03On TikTok on October 30th, Anna posted a bathroom mirror selfie with the caption,

02:07You deserve to be happy, but if it ain't with me, then never mind.

02:11The final post has since been flooded with heartfelt tributes.

02:15Information was initially scant, but her father even lamented to the Daily Mail that the FBI

02:19hadn't shared any information with him about his daughter, and that the family was, quote,

02:24trying to sit still and wait for answers.

02:26But bombshell details about the mysterious case have since emerged from an unexpected source.

02:31According to a court motion filed on November 17th,

02:33from a messy custody dispute between Anna's stepmother, Chantel, and her ex-husband, Thomas.

02:40Chantel requested that a hearing be rescheduled because she claimed that her son,

02:44Anna's 16-year-old stepbrother, was being named a suspect in the teen's killing

02:48and could face a criminal case.

02:50The stepbrother, who was identified as T.H. in documents,

02:53remains in the care of one of his mother's relatives

02:55as the investigation into his stepsister's death continues,

02:59according to legal filings in a Brevard County family court.

03:02Chillingly, Chantel also accused her ex of domestic and physical abuse

03:06against their two youngest children,

03:08including the boy who is now being questioned by the FBI

03:10in the high school senior's mysterious death,

03:13according to an emergency motion filed in court.

03:15Now, even more disturbing details have been trickling out.

03:18According to a new report from Daily Mail,

03:20Anna's 14-year-old brother unknowingly went to sleep just feet away from his dead sister.

03:25Sources say during the same night, the teen went back to her room after feeling sick.

03:29The teen's two stepbrothers also went back to their shared room with Anna later that evening,

03:34before her younger brother changed his clothes

03:36and left again to take pictures of the carnival horizon as it continued its Caribbean voyage.

03:41Sources say that when the 14-year-old came back,

03:44he noticed his stepsister wasn't in bed,

03:46but he assumed she had gone out again to be with the adults.

03:49The young boy thought nothing of it and went to sleep.

03:52However, Anna was last seen on the ship's surveillance footage

03:54returning to her room that night and was not seen leaving again.

03:59No charges had been filed in the case.

04:01The FBI had no further updates on the case as of November 19th.

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