The mother of a teenage girl who was discovered deceased on a cruise ship has shared the distressing manner in which she learned of her daughter’s tragic passing.
Fresh information has emerged in the case of Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old whose body was found on a Carnival Cruise ship during a family vacation in November.
Anna, a resident of Titusville, Florida, was onboard a six-day Carnival cruise with her family when she was pronounced dead in international waters between Mexico and Florida. Although the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner noted Anna’s time of death at 11:17 am on November 7, official details regarding her autopsy, cause of death, or manner of death are yet to be disclosed.
Reports state that Anna’s body was concealed under a bed, wrapped in a blanket, and shielded by life jackets before being discovered by a maid. The FBI and ship security personnel are currently interviewing fellow passengers, crew members, and Kepner’s relatives.
According to The Daily Mail, Anna had complained of feeling unwell on the evening of November 6 and retired to her cabin. The following day, her father, Christopher Kepner, 41, and other family members initiated a search on the ship after she did not appear for breakfast.
In a recent interview, Anna’s mother, Heather Wright, disclosed that she learned about her daughter’s demise through an online search using Google. Wright also mentioned that her youngest son was informed at school by a friend that his sister had been killed, as shared in her interview on NewsNation.
Wright received a text prompting her to verify if her daughter was on a cruise, leading her to desperately search for Anna. After unsuccessful attempts to contact her daughter or ex-husband, Wright resorted to searching online using the keywords ’18-year-old died on cruise ship’.
“And that’s when my daughter’s face popped up all over Google,” she recounted.
Authorities are currently scrutinizing CCTV footage from the ship and examining electronic key card data to determine who accessed the teenager’s cabin, as per a CBS source.
Carnival Cruise Line has affirmed its full cooperation with the ongoing federal investigation.