Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, January eighth, and almost
Speaker 1: exactly two months ago, eighteen year old Anna Kepner was
Speaker 1: found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship, and here we
Speaker 1: are two months later, no arrests and very few answers
Speaker 1: as to what happened to her. And with that, welcome
Speaker 1: to this episode of Amy and TJ, where we have
Speaker 1: been looking back robes on some very high profile mysteries, deaths,
Speaker 1: investigations that don't have a lot of answers. This one
Speaker 1: we don't have a lot of answers either, But this
Speaker 1: has been a fascinating case where little things start leaking
Speaker 1: out here in the there to where we're starting to
Speaker 1: form a picture at least it seems of what might
Speaker 1: have happened.
Speaker 2: That's right, because this happened in international waters. It's the
Speaker 2: FBI's jurisdiction, and the FBI is notoriously tight liped. They
Speaker 2: do not show their hand, they do not give any
Speaker 2: indication as to where their investigation is headed. And so
Speaker 2: the only reason why we have any information is because
Speaker 2: there is a custody dispute going on between Anna Kepner's
Speaker 2: stepmother and her ex husband involving this stepbrother who we
Speaker 2: now know is a suspect only because of court documents
Speaker 2: in this custody case.
Speaker 1: All right, folks, did you get all that? I know
Speaker 1: the story well, and I was and that was still confusing. No,
Speaker 1: not confusing everything with one hundred percent right, that is
Speaker 1: what this case has been, very confusing. Let's go back
Speaker 1: to last November. Anna Keeptner, eighteen years old from Titusville, Florida,
Speaker 1: went on a cruise. She had her dad, stepmom, the
Speaker 1: step mom's two kids, and her grandparents. So correct, whole
Speaker 1: family is together, and Anna Kaepner is sharing a room
Speaker 1: with one of the step siblings. Both step siblings, including
Speaker 1: her sixteen year old stepbrother. She's found dead on November seventh.
Speaker 1: Robes and the way she was found may clear. It's
Speaker 1: clear someone tried to hide or cover up something.
Speaker 2: Correct, it was I believe a a house cleaner who
Speaker 2: came in a cleaning crew around eleven am on November
Speaker 2: seventh and found her under the bed with life jackets
Speaker 2: and blankets trying to cover the body. And pretty quickly
Speaker 2: I will say we did get a cause of death.
Speaker 2: That was information came out very quickly, and that it
Speaker 2: completely went dry but they were able to tell us.
Speaker 2: Authorities were able to tell us that Anna Kapner, eighteen
Speaker 2: years old, died from mechanical asphyxia. They say she was
Speaker 2: mechanically asphyxiated by other persons, so they labeled it a
Speaker 2: homicide from the get go. There was no question as
Speaker 2: to how she died. We know it was at the
Speaker 2: hands of someone else, but they haven't said who, if
Speaker 2: any suspects there are.
Speaker 1: Officially, yes, they haven't given us that information. So move
Speaker 1: forward to the next part of the story and the
Speaker 1: story you were telling rogues. Is that the reason we
Speaker 1: have the information we have now Again we talked about
Speaker 1: this being a blended family, step mom, step siblings. Well,
Speaker 1: the step mom is involved in a custody dispute with
Speaker 1: her ex husband. Now, as a matter of that dispute,
Speaker 1: they had to make some court filings en roped. It's
Speaker 1: in one of those court filings is where it is.
Speaker 1: At least from her words, she is saying her son
Speaker 1: is being considered a suspect by the FBI.
Speaker 2: That's right in the latest court filing, at least the
Speaker 2: one that got everyone's attention. This is the language that
Speaker 2: was in the document. It is true that there is
Speaker 2: an open investigation regarding the death of the biological daughter
Speaker 2: of the stepfather and blank, we don't have his name,
Speaker 2: but the sixteen year old is a suspect regarding this death,
Speaker 2: which occurred recently on a cruise ship. So that is
Speaker 2: as plain as it gets in this court filing. The
Speaker 2: sixteen year old stepbrother is a suspect in the murder
Speaker 2: of eighteen year old Anna Kepner.
Speaker 1: And again, and you look, no speculation and nothing to
Speaker 1: put there, but people are piecing this together that just
Speaker 1: no one else was around. You remind me, and I'm
Speaker 1: sorry I'm completely missing this, but as far as the
Speaker 1: comings and goings, they are aware that nobody else was
Speaker 1: in and out of that stateroom.
Speaker 2: Correct, There is surveillance video. There are cameras all throughout
Speaker 2: that cruise ship. And they have made a note that
Speaker 2: the only person who came and left Anna Kepner's room
Speaker 2: was the step brother. From the time they know she
Speaker 2: went in there alive until the time she was found dead,
Speaker 2: he was the only person who came and went.
Speaker 1: Okay, So then we find out more. Again, the official
Speaker 1: information comes from official court filings in this other dispute,
Speaker 1: but there are ropes. We found out that he was
Speaker 1: at a facility, We found out about some of the
Speaker 1: things he's been saying to family members. And this call
Speaker 1: comes again from some court documents that show text messages
Speaker 1: between the boy's mother and father, who is her ex husband.
Speaker 2: Yes, and a lot of people have made a point
Speaker 2: will go through them that the text messages said nothing
Speaker 2: about really about the death of Anna Kaepner, about the
Speaker 2: loss of Anna Keepner. It was all about protecting and
Speaker 2: perhaps massaging public opinion about their son. So the first
Speaker 2: text is at seven thirty pm on November seventh, that
Speaker 2: is the day they found Anna Kaepner's body. Within about
Speaker 2: six hours of that discovery, Chantelle, which is the stepmom,
Speaker 2: wrote to her ex husband, we'll call him Tim, that's
Speaker 2: his name. I need you to call me asap. It's
Speaker 2: an emergency. The next text is the following day, and
Speaker 2: they are talking about their younger daughter. She doesn't know
Speaker 2: anything about her brother. The only thing I told her
Speaker 2: is that he was having a hard time coping with
Speaker 2: losing Anna. So he's getting checked out by the hospital.
Speaker 2: We know that the stepbrother was immediately when the ship
Speaker 2: came into doc sent straight to a medical facility to
Speaker 2: be evaluated. He was that emotional, apparently, and then the
Speaker 2: next day. This is very interesting, Chantelle texts her ex
Speaker 2: husband on November ninth. I was able to talk with
Speaker 2: the step brother last night for under two minutes. Briefly.
Speaker 2: He just keeps repeating over and over. He can't remember
Speaker 2: everything that made headlines.
Speaker 1: He said everything, he said anything.
Speaker 2: Anything, Sorry, he can't remember anything.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's all he repeated. I don't know what to
Speaker 1: make of that, and no one does. But there is
Speaker 1: something that happened on the ship. It's almost as if
Speaker 1: he's acknowledging something happened, but he can't remember that thing.
Speaker 1: I don't know what to make of that, but a
Speaker 1: lot of people are making something of that. This is man,
Speaker 1: this is this is awful. What happened? It could have been.
Speaker 1: You can explain all kinds of accidents. I'm sure he'll
Speaker 1: He hasn't been charged with anything. Now, let's start there.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been charged and hasn't been named officially as
Speaker 1: a suspect by any law enforcement arm has he That
Speaker 1: is correct.
Speaker 2: The FBI is the only entity investigating, and they're not
Speaker 2: going to announce the suspect. They're going to announce an arrest.
Speaker 2: They're going to announce charges, but before that they will not.
Speaker 2: And it's interesting because if you see, I hate to
Speaker 2: call it damage control, but that is what's going on
Speaker 2: between the two parents the ex husband, right, I wrote,
Speaker 2: I just want him to know that he isn't just
Speaker 2: dead to everyone, regardless of everything. At the moment, he
Speaker 2: needs his parents. I know you know that. I would
Speaker 2: just like to have a chance to talk with him
Speaker 2: as soon as possible. Sean Tell writes, nobody knows anything
Speaker 2: about him. He is a minor and has been kept
Speaker 2: completely out of it. We have not said anything to anybody,
Speaker 2: and we are we will try our best to keep
Speaker 2: completely out. We'll know exactly more when the autopsy is done.
Speaker 2: Once we get the autopsy today. Depending on what it says,
Speaker 2: it will depend on whether he's booked on these charges.
Speaker 2: What's interesting about that is that we did get the autopsy,
Speaker 2: and we did get a cause of death, and it
Speaker 2: is asphyxiation. They actually didn't they say it was with
Speaker 2: a choke hold done by someone else, So that's interesting.
Speaker 2: She felt like once they determined it was murder, once
Speaker 2: they determined she was exphyxiated, that their son was likely
Speaker 2: going to face charges.
Speaker 1: Doesn't it sound to you like the parents knew he was.
Speaker 1: He had a hand at least the mom in these
Speaker 1: exchanges like an expectation he's going to be charged. Was
Speaker 1: nothing in that said yeah, he was nowhere near this.
Speaker 1: Oh he said he walked in and that was none
Speaker 1: of that. And this is a moment where they never
Speaker 1: thought their text messages would be released, so they're talking correct.
Speaker 1: And so this last one also was getting a lot
Speaker 1: of buzz. She writes.
Speaker 2: Okay, I know everything is supposed to be hush hush
Speaker 2: for now, but I've seen that it is still getting
Speaker 2: out with posts and comments between Facebook, TikTok and stuff.
Speaker 2: I just want to make sure, until things are certain,
Speaker 2: that he doesn't get any unnecessary comments towards There is
Speaker 2: nothing in here that says he is innocent. He did nothing.
Speaker 2: I know my child, we know our kid. He would
Speaker 2: never do this. I'm blown away at the accusations. This
Speaker 2: is so it's all about controlling the damage, controlling the narrative,
Speaker 2: about protecting him, and I get that as a parent,
Speaker 2: I totally get that. But what's absent and what's missing,
Speaker 2: which is so notable, is that there's no talk about
Speaker 2: him being innocent whatsoever.
Speaker 1: You know there, You know it's to some point and
Speaker 1: any parent listening can relate to you immediately no matter what.
Speaker 1: Want to do right by your child and want to
Speaker 1: protect your child the best you can, of course, and
Speaker 1: you certainly don't want to believe your child is capable
Speaker 1: of anything like this. And also robes this could have
Speaker 1: been it's some kind of horseplay or tragic accident. Did
Speaker 1: a sixteen year old have the intent of killing his
Speaker 1: eighteen year old stepsister? Hope not, but something happened to
Speaker 1: her at the hands of some else, and to think
Speaker 1: it was another teenager who's in her family is just
Speaker 1: horrific for this family, as we said, and we want
Speaker 1: answers and are waiting and whatnot. Man, this family is
Speaker 1: going through it, and they went through it. We talked
Speaker 1: about him over the holidays. They miss Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Speaker 1: Not just that she's not there, but the whole family
Speaker 1: now is split because the step siblings are here and
Speaker 1: the family's over here and all this stuff. But stay
Speaker 1: with us, folks, and all we're talking about is sixteen
Speaker 1: year old. Where exactly is he right now? We'll get
Speaker 1: into that and also we'll let you know what other
Speaker 1: family members have been saying about this young man.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone. We are giving you an update of
Speaker 2: the latest information about the murder of Anna Kepner. She
Speaker 2: was the eighteen year old Florida teen who was found
Speaker 2: dead in her cabin on a cruise ship, a Carnival
Speaker 2: Horizon cruise ship. She was on a family vacation and
Speaker 2: because of court documents involved in a custody case, we
Speaker 2: know from those documents that her stepbrother, her sixteen year
Speaker 2: old stepbrother, is a suspect in the investigation. The FBI
Speaker 2: is actually conducting the investigation because this happened in international
Speaker 2: waters and they notoriously do not give any information. So
Speaker 2: the information we do have is coming out from these
Speaker 2: court documents. And we know that the stepbrother is now
Speaker 2: no longer understandably living with his mother, Anna Kepner, and
Speaker 2: his stepfather, of course, the father of Anna Kepner. So
Speaker 2: she and her ex agreed in November, and we all
Speaker 2: know this through the court documents, to send him to
Speaker 2: a family member on Florida's west coast, because Anna Kapner said, yeah,
Speaker 2: he can't return to our Titus Phill home. Can you
Speaker 2: imagine though, what that marriage is going through right now?
Speaker 2: Your son potentially killed my daughter. How do you how
Speaker 2: does that family not just get through the holidays that
Speaker 2: they've had to get through, but just get through life?
Speaker 1: You said potentially, Where is it fair to say we're
Speaker 1: the ones and investigators are saying potentially? Don't these people
Speaker 1: probably know?
Speaker 2: Yes, what happened, right, Yes, And it seems I cannot
Speaker 2: imagine being able to survive that as in a relationship,
Speaker 2: and it's a tough Like you see the pictures of
Speaker 2: these of this family and you see them vacationing together
Speaker 2: and all these family photos, and they all look very
Speaker 2: happy and very united, and this is difficult. We also know,
Speaker 2: just in terms of the step brother from these court documents,
Speaker 2: his mom said that he had not been taking pills
Speaker 2: for insomnia for the last few days on that trip
Speaker 2: on that cruise ship, and that he also was supposed
Speaker 2: to be taking pills regularly for that and for his ADHD.
Speaker 2: So that was a part of the court documents that
Speaker 2: when he went to this other family member to ensure
Speaker 2: that he was taking his medication. I don't know how
Speaker 2: that would play into any sort of potential defense if
Speaker 2: he is charged at some point, but that was made
Speaker 2: note of as well, and really the only indication we
Speaker 2: have about their relationship we heard from the grandmother who
Speaker 2: was on the cruise ship earlier, and she had nothing
Speaker 2: but glowing things to say about the relationship between Anna
Speaker 2: and her stepbrother, which is also puzzling. She said, there
Speaker 2: were two peas in a pod.
Speaker 1: What happened? Just what happened in that room? I just
Speaker 1: I'll wait and want to hear. But I would like
Speaker 1: to believe that a sixteen year old does not have
Speaker 1: a desire to kill his step sister, And so we'll
Speaker 1: find out maybe what happened in there, But just an
Speaker 1: awful story for a young lady was supposed to be
Speaker 1: graduation from high school. I believe this this spring. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's awful, but again it's one folks. You can go
Speaker 1: back through our feed here you'll see that this week
Speaker 1: we have gone back and revisited some of these cases.
Speaker 1: Martha Nolan, the death in montac David the singer who
Speaker 1: dead body was found in his trunk a teenager. That
Speaker 1: case is still going on, and now this one as well.
Speaker 2: No, I was just saying, you wonder in these cases,
Speaker 2: as you just listed those all several of them have
Speaker 2: a very well documented potential suspect, and it's just curious
Speaker 2: as to what it takes what prosecutors are potentially trying
Speaker 2: to do behind the scenes to make sure they have
Speaker 2: all their ducks in a row before they bring charges
Speaker 2: and before they potentially but there's time to actually present
Speaker 2: a case. So I'm just it's curious to me what
Speaker 2: the decision is to.
Speaker 1: Wait, you know, you want to get it right. These
Speaker 1: are very high profile cases that we have seen defense
Speaker 1: attorneys dismantle in court based on things that are happening
Speaker 1: right now, investigative things going on that we don't know about.
Speaker 1: So yes, as a public, as journalists here waiting for
Speaker 1: answers and waiting for the story to actually come out.
Speaker 1: And this is one I defer and I have to
Speaker 1: give them all they're just do for. And ha's the
Speaker 1: patience for these cases because I cannot imagine behind the
Speaker 1: scenes what it takes to make sure you got it
Speaker 1: right to bring somebody to justice and make sure you
Speaker 1: can get a conviction just about and arrest.
Speaker 2: Justice is oftentimes, especially in this country, very slow. We
Speaker 2: have certainly documented that and seen that. I think what
Speaker 2: the grandmother had to say, really kind of moved me,
Speaker 2: she said. When they kept asking her about the relationship,
Speaker 2: she said, I can't accuse him because I don't know
Speaker 2: what happened in that realm. And I think that's where
Speaker 2: we all are right now, and we will wait to
Speaker 2: see what investigats readers tell us when the time comes,
Speaker 2: and we will of course be following this story as
Speaker 2: well as all of those others for you, and as
Speaker 2: news becomes available, we will bring it to you. So
Speaker 2: we appreciate you as always listening to us. I'm a
Speaker 2: Mee Roebuck alongside t. J.
Speaker 1: Holmes. We will talk to you soon.