Tragic Death of Anna Kepner on Carnival Cruise Ship Sparks FBI Investigation
An 18-year-old named Anna Kepner, who tragically passed away on a Carnival cruise ship in Florida, has been cremated, as per her death certificate obtained by Fox News. The cause and manner of her death were not disclosed in the public document, with the details reserved for her immediate family. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office has refrained from commenting due to the ongoing investigation.
The FBI's Miami office is leading the inquiry into Kepner's death, which her family revealed was determined to be a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation in an interview with ABC News. Mechanical asphyxia obstructs breathing by external means, hindering the expansion of the chest or belly, as explained by Dr. Priya Banerjee, a forensic pathologist.
Kepner's official time of death was recorded as 11:17 a.m. on Nov. 7, a day before the Carnival Horizon cruise ship docked in Miami. Family members disclosed that she was discovered under her bed, wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by life jackets in the cabin she shared with her stepbrother. The FBI has not named any suspects in the case, although court documents from a custody dispute involving the stepbrother's parents suggest the 16-year-old is a person of interest in the investigation.