Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, and in this week’s episode of Pushing Up Lilies, we're diving deep into the mysterious disappearance of Anna Kepner, a case that begins with a dream vacation and ends in haunting questions. When Anna boarded a cruise ship, she was looking forward to a relaxing getaway. But sometime during the voyage, Anna vanished without a trace. No distress call. No witnesses. Just an empty cabin and a sea of unanswered questions. Was it an accident? A calculated murder? Or something even more sinister? We'll explore the timeline, the investigation, and the growing suspicions that continue to cloud this perplexing case. You’ll hear about cruise ship protocols, missing person loopholes on international waters, and the loved ones still fighting for the truth. Set sail with us as we navigate the dark waves of Vanished at Sea.
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00:06
Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I'm your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
00:24
Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, we are here for another episode of Pushing Up Lilies and I wanted to talk to you this week about the death of Anna Kepner. I know that this story's been in the news.
00:43
It's rampant right now. This happened in November 2025 aboard the Carnival Horizon. This ship was going between Cozumel and Miami, and 18-year-old Anna was a cheerleader from Florida. She was on the boat with her family and this particular morning, they thought she slept in.
01:06
They searched the decks when she didn't show up for breakfast. They checked the pool. They messaged her phone. And then hours later, a housekeeper opened the door to Anna's cabin and looked around the room and then glanced down.
01:22
Now, Anna's body was hidden under the bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets. Her family had spent the morning walking past the door, but her future stopped behind it. Today we're going to walk through what we know about Anna's life, the night she died, and the federal investigation that now focuses on a minor step sibling.
01:47
Along the way, we will talk about why deaths at sea are so hard to investigate. Before we talk about what happened on the ship, we want to talk a little bit about who was on it. Because this case is not only about a mystery on the open ocean, but it's about someone's daughter, granddaughter, teammate, and friend.
02:11
So according to her obituary and some family tributes that have been posted, Anna Marie Kepner grew up in Titusville, Florida. And friends and relatives describe her as a bubbly, outgoing, friendly, and she was completely herself.
02:29
That kind of teenager who sent random, I love you texts and filled rooms with laughter. She loved kids. She loved dolphins, butterflies, arts and crafts. She did puzzles with her grandmother. She supported local small businesses when they needed extra help.
02:46
She worked hard in school. She earned good grades, and she kept a reputation as a straight A student. On the field, she lived for sports and cheer. She rooted for the Georgia Bulldogs with her family.
03:00
Her dream job was to cheer for them in college. Her longer path, the one she talked about with recruiters, pointed towards the military. She completed entry testing and planned to join the Navy after graduation and then move into a career as a canine police officer.
03:19
So, this girl had dreams and aspirations. So, you have this picture, a teenager, she's got a plan, a girl who liked makeup, TikTok, glittery outfits, but also liked structure, service, and responsibility.
03:35
She stood right on the edge between childhood and adulthood. Her family called her our sunshine and and a banana. The world feels dimmer without her. Keep that in mind as we move forward. She's not a headline or a case file.
03:51
She's an 18-year-old who packed for a family vacation and never came home. This month again, Anna boarded this Carnival Horizon in Miami with her father, her stepmother, and three step siblings. The ship followed a typical six-day Caribbean itinerary with stops in Mexico before returning to Florida.
04:16
I don't know how many of you have ever been on a cruise ship, but it kind of feels like its own little city. You've got trivia contests and pole chairs packed shoulder to shoulder and families and everybody kind of does their own thing during the day and then they kind of connect again during meals and in their shared cabins at night.
04:38
Now reports from the family say the evening before Anna died, she went to dinner, but she wasn't feeling well. She excused herself and she went back to the cabin and that was one of the last recorded interactions anyone had with her when she was alive.
04:55
The next morning, the ship was actually on its way back towards Miami when Anna didn't show up for breakfast. They thought she overslept. They expected to meet her by the pool or in a common area. Then when they continued to, not be able to find her, they started worrying.
05:13
They checked all the teenage hangouts, the decks, the lounges, maybe a friend's cabin. At this point, they didn't have a clue what the FBI and police would find later that day. They only knew that their daughter, who normally answered her phone, had gone silent.
05:31
And based on multiple reports, Anna's time of death appears on the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's records as 1117 a.m. November 7th. But the ship did not dock until the following day. During those hours, the family searched for her.
05:51
And while they searched, a member of the housekeeping staff entered her room, which kind of surprises me, by the way, that that was allowed. And probably it was before they really realized she was truly missing and any kind of investigation was open.
06:08
It was probably just when the family was looking for her. So, her cabin was not yet off limits to staff. But according to law enforcement sources, the housekeeper found Anna's body under the bed frame wrapped in a blanket covered with life jackets.
06:27
And that detail alone stops us cold. If you're listening and you have medical or investigative experience, you already know the questions. First, a body under a bed suggests movement after death and it raises the question of who moved her and when.
06:47
And second, covering the body with a blanket and life jackets definitely suggests an effort to hide it from view, but it doesn't prove intent. It doesn't prove that the person who did it did it intentionally.
06:59
It only proves that they were trying to cover it up after it happened. The cabin sits in a controlled environment, so access requires the electronic keycards. And surveillance cameras definitely track traffic in the hallways and major areas on the ship.
07:17
So, there are time stamped data that exists that will tell us who entered the room and when. They can get swap records, camera footage, and meanwhile on the same ship, the family learned the worst news of their lives.
07:34
Their daughter had been found dead on the same deck where they spent the morning calling her name. Now, when a passenger dies on a cruise ship in international waters, normal local procedures stop and federal law steps in.
07:48
And I know we've talked a little bit about this before, but under special maritime jurisdiction, when a serious crime or unexplained death involves a United States citizen on a vessel that departs or arrives from a U.S.
08:03
port, the FBI gains primary investigative authority. And so that applies here. And it was from Florida that Carnival Horizon sailed from and returned to Florida. Several agencies are going to share responsibility.
08:19
Ship security preserves the scene inside. The cruise line communicates with federal authorities and then prepares for any required deviation from the itinerary. And then the FBI, sometimes local homicide units also will begin building a case that straddles federal and local systems.
08:39
But in Anna's case, the medical examiner recently said that her stepbrother is the sole suspect in the case. Her death has been ruled a homicide, and the cause has been found to be asphyxiation. So, it's been ruled a homicide, and the cause is mechanical asphyxiation.
09:07
The stepbrother that's being accused, apparently and her, were really close. He had some demons. I don't know what the demons are, but this is being investigated, and he is being questioned. Now, autopsy and toxicology reports haven't been released from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office yet, and they're not commenting when a lot of the news outlets reach out to them.
09:34
But they think that it was possibly caused by a bar hold, like an arm across the neck. And the stepbrother is a minor, so he could definitely face charges, but no charges have been filed at this time.
09:49
The FBI is still conducting this investigation. We don't know what role the minor played. They've looked closely enough at this stepbrother to trigger concerns. They are, of course, not naming the minor suspected.
10:07
They have not been charged in criminal court. The family has been questioned. Federal agents have enough information to focus on a very tight group of people, so they know who accessed her cabin. It's kind of interesting to think about, you know, the cabin key card logs and all the surveillance footage.
10:28
I'm sure it's a lot to go through. Any electronic data from phones, social media, messaging apps. And of course, they're taking statements from all the family members and passengers who've interacted with Anna.
10:43
Reports mention a cryptic TikTok video hinting at relationship strain in the days before the cruise. That kind of digital footprint matters in modern investigations, but it doesn't answer the question.
10:58
It just kind of sketches tension in the background. So, we're kind of in limbo. She died in a cabin on a family trip. Her body was concealed. This minor step sibling sits in the crosshairs of a federal investigation.
11:16
And everything else kind of sits in the category of speculation. Now, if you follow true crime, it's easy to slip into detective mode when things like this happen. To read each new headline is a clue, and you can dig through Reddit threads and comment sections looking for a smoking gun.
11:36
The Kepner family requested privacy and respect in all the public posts and in her obituary, and they asked people to remember Anna with laughter, sunshine, and love, and not the rumor storms. The important thing to do in cases like this is actually stick to reputable sources.
11:56
Treat uncharged individuals, especially minors, as innocent and keep the focus on the victim's life and not gossip about family drama. And that's a big deal here. I mean, there's going to be, in cases like this, a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors.
12:13
And if we just keep to the facts and let the investigators investigate, this is all going to come to a head. A lot of people wonder why it takes so long to finish an investigation. But the fact is this is an $800 million ship full of cameras and staff with thousands of passengers.
12:39
It takes a while. There were a lot of people probably that interacted with her and there's a lot of camera footage to go through. Cabins on these ships are small and very efficient. Investigators have to treat the cabin as a crime scene.
12:54
And so, they're going to do fingerprint collection from door handles and railings and surfaces and collect the bedding and clothing and trace evidence like hair and fibers and foreign material. And they've got photography and a full body exam, which was done at the medical examiner's office.
13:13
Trace preservation can definitely be complicated in cases like this, but even in a land-based case, we all know it takes time. But at sea, with a lot of people disembarking and the clock actually runs faster, and the logistics get a little bit harder.
13:31
Of course, they're doing toxicology, blood and urine, a lot of things. These are going to also slow things down a little bit. Labs deal with cues and specialized testing actually requires more time and it's much more technical.
13:47
It's not comforting at all, of course, for the family, but from a forensic standpoint, rushing a conclusion actually destroys that trust even more. So, it's a waiting game. And, you know, I know, like in our cases, the family here is pending, and we hate it as much as they do.
14:07
We want answers. We want to know what happened in our case. We were there. Sometimes it's not obvious. And I mean, we're curious, but also from an investigative standpoint, like we need to know what happened.
14:21
Over the years, headlines have covered overboard incidents and assaults on ships and medical emergencies on cruise ships and suspected homicides in cabins. Cruise lines rely heavily on their reputation.
14:38
And of course, they need passengers to snap pictures of the sunsets and come to the buffet. And they really don't want people to be carried off of there in a body bag. But Carnival expressed sympathy and confirmed that they are cooperating fully with the FBI.
14:55
And of course, we expect that. Behind the scenes, though, the relationship between cruise security and federal agents shapes everything from how fast cabins get sealed to which records come first. Again, the FBI has legal authority.
15:12
The cruise line controls the physical environment. The crew in the initial information. Now, law enforcement is going to sometimes, in cases like this, keep details quiet to protect the investigation.
15:26
And cruise lines are going to speak carefully to limit their liability. In the meantime, that leaves the family kind of in the middle, confused and angry and grieving. Now, her body was removed in Miami once the ship returned there, and super curious to see what comes out of this.
15:47
I don't have a lot of information on the step sibling that's being accused, but he is being questioned. He has not been formally charged. All I'm hearing is that he's got demons, but then I'm also hearing that they were very good friends and that they were very close.
16:04
It could have very well been caused by something accidental and then he panicked and hid her body. Not everybody thinks clearly in moments like that. They wouldn't maybe think that we're maybe just trying to delay her being found.
16:22
I don't know. I mean, we don't know what happened. Just professionally, I like to keep educating the public about how investigations really work, the fact that toxicology takes time, why a lot of the agencies are quiet during the investigation, and that'll kind of slow the spread of misinformation.
16:46
I think there's always temptation in cases like this to kind of expect a twist or for some viral clip of a confession to come up on TikTok or, of course, we're all waiting for them to announce charges.
17:00
Wherever this investigation leads, the center of it is not going to change. There's a teenage girl, a grieving family, a cabin on a big ship where something went wrong behind a closed door. So, if you know Anna, if you loved her, or if you walked through a similar loss, it's devastating.
17:25
I actually announced this week that I am retiring from the medical examiner's office. As much as I love the job, the podcast is pulling me in a lot of directions with families asking me to do investigations and speaking engagements.
17:43
And I'm working on my book called Brains, Body Bags, and Bedside Manner. So, I decided to step down and devote more time to the podcast. I'll also be doing some remote investigations for a private forensic pathologist, and I am continuing to grow my med spa.
18:05
There's just a lot going on. I'm developing an educational program for forensic professionals. And I will not be sleeping till noon. This girl will be working harder. And most of you who know me know that I am not going to sit still.
18:21
So, it's just not something that's possible. But I'm looking forward to the next chapter. A little nervous, I think as most people are. It's kind of exciting. I am sad, but it's also exciting because I have my hand in so many pots.
18:42
It's just, it's going to be fun. I was thinking about this the other day. For the first time in my life, I will not have to ask for a day off. I will be my own boss, actually. That's going to be pretty amazing.
18:55
I can choose to work or not work. I have a couple of nurses that work for me at the med spa who cover my shifts when I'm not there. And an amazing office manager who keeps me in line. And amazing family who has always been super supportive.
19:15
And friends that are just amazing. So, everybody's amazing. It's going to be fun. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I always wake up at three in the morning with ideas and I post on Facebook at the weirdest times of the night because when something comes to my head, I have to do something about it.
19:36
So, I don't have an off switch. There is no off switch. But I also will have time to relax because I won't have to be committed to the medical examiner's office three days a week. And three days a week, it sounds easy, but these are 13 hour days that sometimes end up being longer days.
19:56
And they start at 5 a.m. for me. So not that that's a bad thing. Absolutely love it. But I think when you get to the point where you have so much going on, you have to reel it in a little bit and it's perfect.
20:12
I mean, our benefits at the county are amazing. So if anybody's looking for a job, I highly recommend working for the county or a government job because our benefits are amazing. And that has allowed me to go ahead and retire.
20:28
Yeah, so exciting, nervous, all the things, all the feels, tons of feelings. I did get to go this past weekend, spent the weekend in Gainesville, Texas with my forever friends from high school. And let me tell you, if you've never been to Gainesville, there are so many cute boutiques.
20:46
There's so much to see. And we had a blast. We stayed at this little Airbnb, or I think it was a Verbo called Firehouse 1918. I think it's an old firehouse. There's like a little jail cell in there that's been turned into a bedroom.
21:00
There's the old red fire phones on the wall, bunker gear hanging, nostalgic pictures of Gainesville Fire Department. And it was just really a quaint, gorgeous little Airbnb. And we were able to walk downtown from where we were.
21:18
So, a lot of the shops were walking distance. So yeah, so much fun. If you have not visited, highly recommend the little shops there. Gorgeous boutiques, tons of stuff. I spent way too much money. Anyway, thank you so much for listening this week.
21:35
And we're going to all sit tight. We're going to wait to see what happens with Anna's step sibling. I know we're all kind of on edge. It's so sad that this happened and devastating for this family. And hopefully they will get answers for them soon.
21:53
Anyway, I look forward to talking to y'all next week. Just stay safe. See you soon. Bye, y'all. Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies. If you like this podcast and would like to share with others, please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple Podcast.
22:12
This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public. Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at pushinguplilies.com for merchandise and past episodes.