The heartbroken father of the high school cheerleader found dead on a Carnival cruise ship is demanding answers from the FBI, claiming he still has “no idea” what happened to his bubbly 18-year-old daughter.
Anna Kepner was declared dead in international waters on Friday morning while on a six-day Caribbean cruise with her family on the Carnival Horizon.
Her father, Christopher Kepner, said that days later the grieving family is still in the dark over what happened.
Anna Kepner died while on a Carnival Cruise from Miami to the Caribbean. @anna.kepner16/Instagram“Everybody was questioned. Everybody came off that ship. I don’t know who they are looking at or what their investigation is,” the 41-year-old dad from Titusville, Florida, told the Daily Mail.
“The FBI hasn’t shared anything with me yet. I would imagine they’re going to be in contact with me about it – but I know as little as everybody else,” he continued.
Anna Kepner with her family. Shauntel Kepner / Facebook“I have no idea what is going on right now. We are just trying to sit still and wait for answers.”
The FBI, which is leading the investigation because the death occurred in international waters, has released scant details on the circumstances surrounding her death.
Shauntel and Christopher Kepner in an undated photo from social media. Shauntel Kepner / FacebookThe Miami Dade County Medical Examiner lists Anna’s time of death at 11: 17 a.m. on Nov. 7, but does not specify where or how it happened, according to the Daily Mail.
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The Carnival Horizon changed its course and stopped at the Port of Miami on Saturday after Anna’s death.
The teen shared a social media post to TikTok on Oct. 30, before her death on Nov. 8, 2025. TikTok/@fl.anna18
The Carnival Horizon cruise ship in Cozumel, Mexico. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesKepner’s dad said he now tries to avoid the rampant speculation spewing on social media about what may have happened to his daughter.
“I’ve had to shut the world out. I don’t watch the TV anymore. We’ve literally had to stop doing anything to do with the internet,” Kepner, a crane operator, told the paper.
“We are very private people. Our lives have been turned upside down.”
Anna Kepner died while on a Carnival Cruise. Instagram/@anna.kepner16Anna — known affectionately by her family as “Anna Banana” — was set to graduate from Temple Christian School in Titusville in May.
The gymnast and cheerleader had just finished her test to join the military, her family said.






