Anna Kepner, teen who died on Carnival cruise, to be honored at celebration of life service

Posted By: Staff
November 20, 2025 @ 11:01 am
ABC National

The family of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Saturday, says they will remember her as a happy, bubbly, straight-A student with a bright future ahead. Kepner family

(TITUSVILLE, Fla.) — Friends and family of Anna Kepner, the 18-year-old who mysteriously died aboard a cruise ship earlier this month, will gather at a Titusville, Florida, church on Thursday to remember the “bubbly” high school senior.

Kepner’s family asked mourners to wear colors, instead of black, to the celebration of life event “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.” Instead of flowers at the service, the family said Kepner’s friends are encouraged to leave flowers on the teenager’s car.

The FBI is investigating Kepner’s Nov. 8 death on the Carnival Horizon. The Miami-Dade medical examiner has still not specified a cause or manner of death.

Kepner was found dead under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, according to a security source briefed on the investigation.

Among the avenues investigators are looking at is whether there might have been some sort of altercation with her stepbrother prior to her death, the source told ABC News.

Investigators are also looking at other possibilities, including a medical emergency or an overdose, the security source said.

A filing in an unrelated family court matter noted Kepner’s stepsibling could face charges. Kepner’s stepmother — who was also on the cruise, along with her children and Kepner’s father — requested a delay in her custody hearing, saying, “The Respondent has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys, that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children.”

Kepner was set to graduate from high school in May and was interested in joining the military, her family said.

“She loved being around people. She had that type of energy that just drew you in with her smile and the way she carried herself,” her family said in a statement.

“She filled the world with laughter, love, and light that reached everyone around her,” her obituary said. “Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself.”

ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky, Luke Barr and Alondra Valle contributed to this report.