Grandmother of 18-year-old found dead on Carnival cruise says she died from 'asphyxia'

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Nov 24, 2025

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MIAMI — The grandmother of a young woman whose body was found underneath a bed on Carnival cruise ship earlier this month said the FBI told the family the teen likely died from asphyxia.

Barbara Kepner said on ABC News’ "Good Morning America" in an interview that aired Monday that agents told the family it appears someone applied a bar hold using his or her forearms on 18-year-old Anna Kepner’s neck.

The elder Kepner and her husband, Jeffrey, were on the cruise with their son, Christopher Kepner (Anna’s father); Anna; Anna's biological brother; Anna’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, and Hudson’s two children, Barbara Kepner told Good Morning America. The whole family lives in Florida.

Court documents in an unrelated custody case involving Hudson and her ex-husband filed in Brevard County last week confirmed that the FBI considers her 16-year-old son a suspect in Anna’s death.

“I heard him in his own words say he doesn’t remember what happened,” Barbara Kepner said during the interview.

Barbara and Jeffrey Kepner told ABC News that investigators told the family that the stepbrother was the only person seen on security camera footage going in and out of the room. Anna was staying in the room with him and her biological brother, according to the interview.

A cleaning crew found Anna’s body underneath her bed around 11:20 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7, according to Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office records. The agency has not released the cause of death, directing questions to the FBI, which said there are no updates in the investigation.

The ship, the Carnival Horizon, returned to PortMiami Nov. 8 after a Caribbean cruise, the company said in a statement.

Court documents filed Nov. 17 related to Hudson’s divorce proceedings mention that her son is a focus of the investigation. Hudson’s attorneys argue in the motion that she should not attend the hearing, citing her “privilege against self incrimination.”

The filing states that Hudson cannot attend a Dec. 17 custody hearing because FBI agents and her attorneys told her “a criminal case may have been initiated against one of the minor children” for Anna’s death.

A counter motion filed by her ex-husband’s attorney says the couple’s “sixteen year old child is now a suspect in the death of (Kepner) during the cruise.”

Neither attorney has responded to the Herald’s requests for comment.

According to an obituary published last week by her family, Anna Kepner was a senior at Temple Christian School who planned to join the U.S. Navy after graduation and eventually become a police officer.

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