The FBI is contemplating launching a possible criminal investigation involving a stepsibling of the Florida high-school cheerleader who was found wrapped in a blanket and stuffed under a bed aboard a Carnival cruise ship, according to a bombshell new court filing.
The possible federal investigation comes almost two weeks after Anna Kepner, 18, was found dead in her cabin on November 7, while on a six-day Caribbean cruise with her family aboard the Carnival Horizon. In an emergency motion obtained by the Daily Mail and filed on Monday in Brevard County, Anna's stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, asked the court for more time to respond to documents related to her 2024 divorce.
Mystery Deepens
Hudson said that she's dealing with an "extremely sensitive and serious circumstance," which has made it difficult for her to meet the deadlines. "Currently there is an investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) arising out of the sudden death of eighteen-year-old Anna Kepner," the filing explains.
It also notes that Hudson and her children were on the cruise along with Anna and her father, Christopher, when the teen was found dead.
"The respondent has been advised through discussions with the FBI investigators and her attorneys, that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action," the filing continued, according to ABC News.
Hudson — a mother of three who recently married Anna's father — asked the court to put the case on hold until the "criminal investigation has concluded." She warned that giving testimony right now could unfairly affect both her and her teenage child while the investigation is still underway.
A Lot Still Being Kept Secret
Anna — lovingly called "Anna Banana" by her family — was found dead wrapped in a blanket, surrounded by life jackets, and shoved under a bed, according to sources who spoke with the Daily Mail.
The teen, a gymnast and cheerleader who was supposed to graduate from Temple Christian School in Titusville this coming May, had told her family at dinner the night before that she wasn't feeling well and went back to her cabin to rest, the sources said.
However, the next morning, when her family met for breakfast, Anna was missing.
A frantic search spread across the enormous ship — which holds nearly 4,000 passengers — until a cabin steward found her body in her room around 11 a.m. The grim discovery forced the ship to immediately turn back toward the Port of Miami.
The Miami-Dade County medical examiner recorded her time of death as 11:17 a.m. on November 7, though the report does not specify the cause of death.
"I have no idea what is going on right now," her grieving father, Christopher Kepner, told the outlet last week. He said the devastated family still has no answers about what led to Anna's death.
"We are just trying to sit still and wait for answers."
The FBI is handling the investigation since the bubbly teen died in international waters, but officials have offered frustratingly few details about how she died.
The FBI is leading the investigation because the cheerful teen died while the ship was in international waters, but so far officials have shared very little about what actually caused her death — leaving the family with more questions than answers.
