Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old Florida resident, was cremated following her death aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship earlier this month. The death certificate, obtained by Fox News, confirms her passing but does not disclose the cause or manner of her death. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has declined to comment, citing an ongoing FBI investigation.
The FBI, based in Miami, is handling the case, and the death has been ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. Mechanical asphyxia just means there is something external to the body that hinders her breathing — her chest or belly can’t expand, according to Dr. Priya Banerjee, a board-certified forensic pathologist. However, no criminal charges have been announced, and the FBI has not identified anyone as a suspect.
Kepner was found under her bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered in life jackets, in a cabin she shared with her stepbrother. The FBI has said little since announcing its investigation two weeks ago and has not responded to requests for comment on the case. Her official time of death is listed as 11:13 a.m. on Nov. 7, a day before the Carnival Horizon cruise liner returned to port in Miami.
Family members have suggested that the 16-year-old stepbrother could be a subject of the FBI’s investigation, as indicated by court documents from a bitter custody battle between the stepbrother’s parents. Despite the family members’ statements that the stepbrother was in the cabin, no public information has been released about the circumstances of Kepner’s death, and no arrests have been made.