FBI Investigates Florida Teen's Cruise Ship Death

Federal authorities are investigating the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, a high school senior from Titusville, Florida, aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on November 8, 2023, with court records indicating a possible criminal case against one of her minor stepsiblings.

Kepner, a cheerleader and gymnast at Temple Christian School, was traveling with her father, Christopher Kepner, stepmother Shauntel Hudson, and stepsiblings on a six-day Caribbean itinerary that departed from Miami. The ship was en route back to port, positioned between Cozumel, Mexico, and Miami in international waters, when her body was discovered by a crew member in her cabin around 11 a.m. on November 8. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner determined her time of death as 11:17 a.m. the previous day, November 7, though the cause and manner remain undetermined pending further analysis.

Family members reported that Kepner had complained of feeling unwell during dinner the evening before her body was found. She returned to her cabin afterward and did not join the group for breakfast the next morning. Concerned relatives began searching the vessel, which can accommodate nearly 4,000 passengers, until...