The FBI’s probe into 18-year-old Anna Kepner’s mysterious death on a Carnival cruise has cracked open a bitter custody fight, pulling back the curtain on allegations of disturbing behavior, family dysfunction, and claims of underage drinking aboard the ship.
No charges have been filed. But court records tied to stepmother Shauntel Kepner’s battle with ex-husband Thomas Hudson show investigators have focused on Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother.
A source close to the family told Fox News that Anna’s ex-boyfriend witnessed unsettling late-night behavior, including the stepbrother slipping into her bedroom at 3 a.m. during FaceTime calls.
“When I was on FaceTime with her, and she was lying down, and her brother tried to go on top of her,” the 15-year-old ex told reporters after her memorial service. He said he alerted Anna’s parents and said she had complained about feeling “uncomfortable” around her stepbrother. He called Anna his “first love” and said he would have joined the family on the cruise earlier this month if they had not broken up.
Anna Kepner/Instagram
After Anna died, the stepbrother’s father rushed into court demanding a custody hearing. He accused his ex-wife of alienating their younger children following a violent incident involving their oldest, and argued that being pushed out of their lives has harmed them.
Hudson also alleged the teens had access to alcohol in international waters despite being underage, according to Click Orlando. Shauntel’s attorney pushed back and denied the claim. Hudson’s filing argued, “The [16-year-old]’s future has been put in jeopardy because of the choices made by [Shauntel].”
The teen’s location is unclear. Court documents say he is no longer in custody and is staying with an unidentified third party.
In an emergency motion in Brevard County, Shauntel asked a judge to delay a December hearing with Hudson because of the active FBI investigation into Anna’s Nov. 7 death aboard the Carnival Horizon. Her attorney, Millicent Athanason, wrote that “a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action.”
Since the ship returned to port, relatives say official answers have been scarce. Anna’s birth mother, Heather Wright, told WESH 2 she discovered her daughter had died only after searching online. “I found out through Google. I ended up Googling it, because the only information I had was that my daughter was on a cruise,” she said.
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