Carnival Cruise Horror: Family of Teen Found Dead on Voyage Accused of 'Rushing into Damage Control' With Texts To Protect Victim's Suspect Stepbrother, 16
Anna Kemper was found dead on a Carnival Cruise.
Dec. 24 2025, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
Newly released text messages reveal the chaos after a high-school cheerleader was found dead on board a Carnival cruise, RadarOnline.com can report.
Anna Kepner's death was ruled a homicide, and her 16-year-old stepbrother is being investigated as the prime suspect.
Anna Kepner was on vacation with her family.
Anna, 18, was found asphyxiated under a bed in the room she shared on the ship with her stepbrother, who suffers from ADHD and insomnia, and hadn't taken his medication for two nights on the cruise, including the night before Anna's body was found.
After her body was discovered, text exchanges between Anna's stepmom, Shauntel Hudson-Kepner, and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, reveal their frantic attempt to "control the story," while keeping certain facts and even the boy's connection to Anna guarded.
Thomas texted: "OK, I know everything is supposed to be hush hush for now but ive seen that it is still getting out with post and comments between facebook tiktok and stuff … i just want to make sure until things are certain that he doesn’t get an(y) unnecessary comments towards him."
Shauntel sent a text describing a short conversation she had with their son, in which he claimed he couldn’t remember anything that had happened.
Stepbrother's 'Infatuation'
No one has been charged with her murder yet, but her stepbrother is a suspect of the investigation.
Anna was a high school cheerleader from Florida’s Space Coast who was set to graduate next year. She had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship with her father, stepmother, her stepmother’s two minor children, and her grandparents.
Her ex-boyfriend claimed her stepbrother was "infatuated" with her, and she said she didn't feel safe around him in the months before her death.
Rambling Texts Exposed
The stepbrother was said to be 'infatuated' with her.
Shauntel later sent a rambling text message to her ex about standing by their troubled son.
"Nobody knows anything about him. He is a minor and has been kept completely out of it we have not said anything to anybody and we are going to try out best to keep it completely out," she sent.
"He is a minor so his name shouldn’t be anywhere and when we talk to the fbi again we will reiterate that we do not want his name out there and everything that’s been posted on tiktok and social media nobody knows anything and everybody’s just speculating.
"We know what i told you last night and we’ll know exactly more when the autopsy is done. Once we get the autopsy today, depending on what it says, depend on whether he’s booked on those charges."
Parents 'Public Relations' Concerns
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Anna Kepner's parents rushed into damage control after her death.
It was recently revealed the 16-year-old boy didn't have his father’s permission to go on the trip, and the dad has now accused his ex-wife of failing to supervise the teen.
Jamie Copenhaver, a former sheriff's detective and investigator, said the couple appears more concerned about how they are being seen personally during the investigation, as opposed to the death of their daughter.
"They did damage control, their own PR department," Copenhaver told Orlando's Fox 35. "I’m going to say 100 percent they know more than what they are telling.
"'We are going to protect you. We are going to keep you out of the light. Let’s stay off special media.'"
