The 18-year-old student from Central Florida was found dead on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month while on vacation with her family.
The family of soon-to-be high-school graduate Anna Kepner is speaking publicly for the first time about her mysterious death and the loss they are grappling with.
Officials have released few details. But the death certificate provided to ABC News by her family said Miss Kepner died of “mechanical asphyxia”, giving the date of injury as November 6.
Ms. Kepner was on vacation in the Caribbean with her father, stepmother and three step-siblings when she was found dead in her cabin.
Here’s what we know about the case.
Anna Kepner’s body was found wrapped in a blanket and covered with a life jacket under a bed, ABC News reports.
The death certificate provided to the network by Anna Kepner’s family stated that she was “mechanically suffocated by other persons”.
The Miami Dade Medical Examiner’s Office did not confirm ABC’s reporting and declined to provide any further information to the BBC, citing an “active and ongoing investigation.”
The FBI has not named any suspects, and no charges have been filed.
Much of what is publicly known about the family’s trip comes from an interview given to ABC News by Miss Kepner’s grandparents.
The family was traveling on the Carnival Horizon, a family vacation that included Miss Kepner’s father, one of her biological siblings, a brother, her stepmother, and children from her stepmother’s previous relationship. His grandparents were also on the ship.
“We were all having a great time,” said her grandmother, Barbara Kepner. “I can’t understand why someone would want to hurt my child.”
He was expected to graduate from high school in May and planned to join the U.S. Navy, his grandparents said.
“We were looking forward to watching him grow up,” said his grandfather Jeffrey Kepner. “It wasn’t the cruise itself that got me excited. It was the fact that I was going to get to spend another week with my youngest son and his family and all the grandchildren.”
The Kepners stated that the relationship between Anna Kepner and her half-siblings was a happy one, adding that “there was no such thing as a stepchild”.
Jeffrey Kepner said, “It’s all family. It’s a blended family, yes, but our family is not like that.” “Our dynamic is that we’re all just a family.”
Barbara Kepner recalled that on the last day she saw her granddaughter alive, the teenager complained that her braces were bothering her.
Despite the discomfort, she got dressed and joined the family at the Cruz Casino, her grandmother said.
Barbara Kepner said her granddaughter told her, “Meemaw, I love you guys, I’ll see you later.”
“And after that we never saw him again,” she said.
Her grandparents are now desperate for answers.
“Now I know how he died,” said Barbara Kepner. “It helps a little, but it won’t bring Anna back.”
The cruise company told the BBC that it is fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation.
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