Anna Kepner Update: Mother Speaks Out As Stepbrother Beco...

By Alia Shoaib

News Reporter

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The mother of the 18-year-old girl who was found dead on a Carnival Horizon cruise ship this month paid tribute to her "happy" daughter" and spoke about family tensions following her death.

Anna Kepner’s mother Heather Kepner told Inside Edition that she had been told not to attend her daughter’s memorial.

Court filings relating to a custody dispute revealed that Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother is under investigation in connection with her death.

Newsweek contacted the FBI’s Miami branch via email on Friday outside of regular working hours.

Why It Matters

Kepner was found dead on November 8 while on a six-day Carnival cruise that departed from Miami to the Caribbean. The investigation into her death is ongoing, and no cause or manner of death has been publicly identified.

What To Know

The teen’s biological mother Heather told Fox35 that her daughter was "always happy" and "trying to make everybody smile."

"She was a really good child. She never really complained about much. She never really cried that much as a baby and as a teenager she was the same," she told the outlet.

Heather told Inside Edition ahead of the memorial on Thursday that she had been told not to attend, but planned to go anyway in disguise.

"I’m going to put a wig on and wear some really tall shoes because I’m 4 foot 9," she said, showing the camera a pair of towering black boots. It is not clear if Heather did attend.

Kepner's parents divorced 13 years ago. The girl had been on the cruise with her father, stepmother, 14-year-old biological brother and stepbrother.

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The FBI’s Miami branch is in charge of the investigation because her death took place on international waters. Authorities have not commented on whether any suspects have been identified.

However, details about the stepbrother being investigated were revealed in a court filing as part of a custody dispute between the 16-year-old boy’s biological parents.

In the filing, an attorney for the boy’s mother Shauntel Kepner said that she had been advised through discussions with the FBI and her attorneys that a criminal case may be initiated against her child.

What People Are Saying

Anna Kepner’s father Christopher Kepner previously told the Daily Mail: "We were there as a family. Everybody was questioned. Everybody came off that ship. I don't know who they are looking at or what their investigation is."

Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Chris Chiames previously told Newsweek: "Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that it is working with the Miami office of the FBI in the investigation of the death of a guest traveling on Carnival Horizon."

What Happens Next

The FBI’s investigation into Kepner’s death is ongoing and her cause of death is yet to be officially revealed.

CNN previously reported that an FBI spokesperson indicated that any charges would come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

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