FBI Names Suspect in Anna Kepner Cruise Ship Murder — But Won't Make an Arrest | Here's Why

True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews

Tony Brueski

News, News Commentary, True Crime

4.2 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Anna Kepner was 18 years old when she was found dead under a bed on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship, wrapped in a blanket and covered with life vests. Her death has been ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. Both of her stepbrother's parents have identified him in court documents as the FBI's sole suspect. And yet, five weeks later, no arrest has been made. In this breakdown, we cover everything that's emerged from the Brevard County custody hearings, the disturbing testimony about chokehold use in the family home, and the ex-boyfriend who says he tried to warn Anna's parents months before she died.

We also examine why the FBI is still weighing whether to charge a 16-year-old federally or hand the case to Florida state prosecutors, and what that decision means for the Kepner family still waiting for justice. This is a case where the warning signs were allegedly there, the suspect has been identified, and the system is still grinding slowly while a killer remains free.

#AnnaKepner #CarnivalCruise #CruiseShipDeath #TrueCrime #FBI #HomicideInvestigation #CarnivalHorizon #Justice #TrueCrimeNews #BreakingNews

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The weather. Tomorrow, expect a biting cold front. Hmm, how naughty. I wonder what I'll be
0:06.8	wearing or taking off. The night will be wild and untamed. Expect heavy, lashing rain
0:13.0	that'll soak you to the skin. By Monday, temperatures will rise slowly but surely reaching
0:18.7	their peak in the afternoon.
0:23.0	Not in the mood for miserable weather?
0:25.8	Fly cheaply to Turkey with Sun Express.
0:28.7	Sun Express, non-stop sunshine.
0:33.2	The weather. Tomorrow, expect a... Biting cold front.
0:34.5	Hmm, how naughty. I wonder what I'll be wearing or taking off.
0:39.0	The night will be wild and untamed.
0:41.1	Expect heavy, lashing rain that'll soak you to the skin.
0:44.9	By Monday, temperatures will rise,
0:47.1	slowly but surely, reaching their peak in the afternoon.
0:51.1	Not in the mood for miserable weather?
0:53.3	Fly cheaply to Turkey with Sun Express.
0:56.2	Sun Express, nonstop sunshine.
1:00.0	This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruske. Here now, Tony Bruske.
1:06.4	An 18-year-old girl goes on a family cruise six days in the Caribbean, her dad or stepmom or grandparents,
1:13.7	a handful of siblings and step-siblings.
1:16.0	The ship docks back in Miami and she's found dead under a bed in her cabin, wrapped in a blanket,
1:23.2	covered in life vests.
1:24.4	The death certificate says homicide.
	...

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