Name: Florida teen may have been strangled on cruise ship, source says
Uploaded: 2025-11-22T01:25:51.856Z
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: Anna Kepner, the 18-year-old found dead on a Carnival cruise ship, was possibly strangled during an altercation, and the suspect may have been using alcohol, according to a law enforcement source.

Anna Kepner, the 18-year-old found dead on a Carnival cruise ship, was possibly strangled during an altercation, and the suspect may have been using alcohol, according to a law enforcement source.

Florida

Authorities are investigating the death of Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old from Florida, who was found dead in her stateroom aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship in the Caribbean. Court documents and law enforcement sources indicate that Kepner may have been strangled during an altercation, and her 16-year-old stepbrother, who was staying in the same room, is considered a suspect.

The FBI is currently reviewing access card records, surveillance footage, and the victim's cell phone to determine the circumstances surrounding her death. The medical examiner has not yet released the official cause or manner of death, citing an ongoing criminal investigation, while the stepbrother may be required to testify in a family court proceeding.

Florida teen may have been strangled on cruise ship, source says

There are new developments tonight in the death of a Florida teenager aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean. A relative is a suspect. Cristian Benavides has the latest on the investigation. CBS News has learned Anna Kepner, the 18-year-old teen found dead on a Carnival Horizon cruise, was possibly strangled during an altercation, and that the suspect may have been using alcohol, according to a law enforcement source. New court documents and a family dispute obtained by CBS News for the first time called the death of the Florida cheerleader a suspected murder. Sources say Kepner's body was discovered by a housekeeper under the bed in her stateroom, wrapped in a blanket with life jackets around her. Investigators are focusing their attention on Kepner's 16-year-old stepbrother, who was described in legal filings as a suspect in her death. CBS has learned the stepbrother was staying in the same room as Kepner. What are investigators doing now? Right now, investigators at the FBI are looking at the access cards to see who swiped into the room. Also, there's surveillance videos to see who entered that corridor and the ship and who left. And they also want to look at the victim's cell phone. They want to see who she was texting, who she may have been calling in the time before her death. Hundreds of family and friends paid their respects to Anna Kepner Thursday in a celebration of life ceremony in her hometown of Titusville. As the FBI investigation into her death continues. CBS has also learned that that 16-year-old stepbrother may have to testify at a family court proceeding about Anna Kepner's death. The medical examiner has not yet released the cause or manner of death, but told CBS Today that that report is part of an active criminal proceeding and a criminal investigation.

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