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Missing Teen Girl On Cruise Found Under Mattress & Main Suspect Is 16 Yr Old "Obsessed" Step Brother
01:00:17
November 8, 2025, a small SUV drives up to the Carnival cruise ship docked at Port Miami. The thick letters on the side of the car read: MIAMI DADE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER FBI agents are seen bringing what appears to be a cadaver stretcher off the ship. Just 24 hours before docking, in a cabin where three step-siblings were rooming together, a crew member finds a dead body. An 18 year old girl named Anna Kepner, hidden underneath a mattress amongst blankets and life jackets. The youngest sibling is seemingly ruled out and the most likely person of interest appears to be her 16 year old step brother...Whom Anna’s father and stepmother seem to be defensively ‘protective’ of. This is the ongoing case of Anna Kepner’s murder. Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com
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- [00:00]
A
What's wrong with Ben? In Primate, a beloved family chimp suddenly turns everything they taught him, he's now using against them. Primate is smart, intense, and packed with jaw dropping moments. Ben is calculating, powerful, and disturbingly human. This is the kind of horror film that shocks you when you least expect it. It's already sitting at 92% on rotten tomatoes and premiered to rave reviews at festivals worldwide. Go see Primate in theaters January 9th when it hits theaters. Do not wait. Grab a seat and bring someone you can squeeze during the scary parts.
- [00:29]
B
Having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like showing up for movie night ready for a heart pounding thriller. But getting a three hour documentary on lawn care, that's kind of like insurance. Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but when it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. You wouldn't settle for a snooze fest when you came for a thrill ride. So don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm last. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [00:57]
C
Bada bing, bada boo.
- [00:58]
B
The guy in the bright red tomato, Hawaiian shirt and a 20 foot long shipping container filled with cocaine are probably headed to this same exact place. It's a place called Port Miami. Welcome to this tiny floating piece of land in Miami, Florida, where half of it is like a giant international airport. But instead of airplanes, you have many mega liners, cruise ships ushering passengers on and off their cruises, making sure that they go through security, immigrations, customs. And then on the other side, you've got massive ships filled with shipping containers, sometimes a lot of times, millions of dollars of illicit drugs being smuggled into South Florida. To the point where the Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard based in Miami has stated in public messages to the cartels, we own the sea, not you. We, we will find you, we will hunt you before you harm anyone on our shores. That coupled with the fact that it is one of the many busiest shipping ports in the United States, it's not going to be the most shocking thing when you see FBI agents, federal agents in Port Miami. I mean, they've also nicknamed Port Miami the cruise capital of the world. In 2025, the Port Miami saw, I believe, close to 8.6 million cruise passengers coming in and out of the port. It, it is one of the few cruise terminals that can handle multiple mega ships at once. I think they can accommodate 12 vessels at once, which sounds not like a lot, right? But then you realize that these mega cruise ships are essentially Skyscrapers lay them down on their side. And there's just 12 skyscrapers from New York City lined up in the water, taking you out to an all you can eat buffet out on the deep sea. And it's really cutthroat. They, they have something called the turnaround day. It's when a cruise ship disembarks one set of passengers, restart, restocks and embarks a new set of passengers within the span of 8 to 12 hours. And then sometimes out of the 12 mega liner spots that they have open, there could be like half of them that are doing a disembark day. So you've got eight to 12 hours to get everybody off the ship. That alone can take three to five hours each ship. Some of these big ones, they have 4,000 people on there. 4,000 passengers. That's not including crew. Wow. There would be about 70 to 80 massive truck trailers pulled up to the terminal to deliver provisions for the next trip. Sometimes you see like 30,000 pounds of just meat going into one ship. Near the end of November this year, there was one point where 10 ships were docked simultaneously and they had more than 320 trucks coming in to help restock supplies for these cruise ships. But because of how many cruises take place daily and just the sheer logistics of being out in the water with as many good backup plans as a, a major corporation would have, which is never a lot, a lot of things go wrong on a cruise and a lot of the times it's the cruise's fault. And that's like a very bold statement. It's merely an opinion. And by cruise, I don't mean the crew, I mean the corporation. Like the poop cruise, the Carnival Cruise takes off. It's the Carnival Triumph and it's a 4100 passenger type ship. So there's a lot of people on board. This is their vacation. A fire breaks out in the mechanical room. All electrical systems, systems are down. Which means no WI fi, no entertainment, no ac, no filtered air pumping through generously, no heater. But the most prevalent malfunction is the fact that there are no working toilets anywhere on the ship. Passengers toilets are just buckets at this point until they start overflowing.
- [04:35]
C
Are you talking about. This is the one that happened like last year or the year before?
- [04:38]
B
Yeah. A few years ago there was a documentary that was released on that first. Yes. So I mean, they turned from poop buckets to just poop. Fake fountains, poop, fecal matter spraying into the staterooms, into the hallways, everywhere. It was likened to fecal lasagna floating on open seas. There's much more to the entire story with Carnival Triumph and Carnival trying to suppress the media attention. The crews actually knowingly sailed past a fuel leak, which probably should have alerted them to something being wrong with the vessel. The whole poop cleanup itself cost $115 million. What? So if you're ever on Carnival Sunrise, just know that's the poop cruise. They renamed it. Yeah, but it does make sense because I believe the vessel is itself worth closer to $650 million. I mean, these are massive ships. And although, I mean, I would say that these are the most common occurrences, I will say that whenever a crime or a missing person on a cruise ship happens, it does make headlines for weeks. But it doesn't occur as often as I guess we are inclined to believe. I mean, usually it's some minuscule variation of a poop cruise. Like typically, these are the mishaps on cruises. It's like a small backup toilet that's not flushing well, or there's some sort of malfunction and it inconvenienced a small group of people in a small way, or a drunken fight where everybody is still physically okay. But it was a fiasco.
- [06:04]
C
But we also talked about a few cases, right, that people just gone missing.
- [06:08]
B
I will say that a lot of people do die on cruises every year, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that cruises are a preferred form of vacation for elderly people. So a lot of them will, will pass away on board. But it's not anything sinister or nefarious, and it's not like a shocking number. Yeah, yeah, but I, I, I'm still inclined not to go on a cruise just because I get a little freaked out. But it, it doesn't happen as regularly as we are conditioned to believe, but it does happen. November 8, 2025, a small group of people at Port Miami, they see this small SUV drive up to the Carnival Horizon cruise ship that just docked. The suv, in comparison to the cruise ship, looks like a tiny little ant. But I feel like the SUV is scarier because it just thick letters on the side of the car. It reads, miami Dade County Medical examiner, not ambulance, not medical examiner. You don't call a medical examiner until you have a body. Soon after, FBI agents are seen bringing what appears to be a cadaver transport carrier off the cruise ship and into the FBI vehicle. Immediately, people online are trying to piece together what happened, and two things start popping up. One, it stated that just the day before, while still out at sea while they're still sailing back to port Miami. Carnival issued letters to passengers in a specific deck, in a specific hallway of staterooms. So if you're staying on, on this level, on this floor, in this hallway, you're getting a letter on your door. The letter reads with the Carnival letterhead at the top, dated November 7, 2025. Dear Carnival Horizon guest, we have made arrangements for you to have priority debarking on tomorrow morning. Authorities will be joining the ship first thing upon arrival to complete an investigation and will be in the area of your hallway. It could be noisy and disruptive, so we kindly ask that you be out of your stateroom by 7am we will have breakfast for you. Meridian Dr. Annex, deck 4, starboard side. And then our team will escort you off the ship ahead of other guests. Doesn't really sound, I mean, it sounds urgent because an investigation, you get priority disembarking. I mean, what could be going on? And then you couple it with another TikTok that starts circulating of a woman who is staying in that same exact deck, same exact hallway. And she says that she found out that someone was dead in the hallway. She starts off the video by describing her experience on the cruise ship thus far. And she's been having like back to back nightmares, which is not the point, but she's just saying it's, it's just been a weird trip. She's on the same cruise, Carnival Horizon, and she says, we woke up and they're talking about somebody got killed on my floor, the eighth floor, like down the hall. So somebody got murdered on the cruise ship. There's security standing in front of the door. The body is still in the room. The body won't be off until tomorrow when we go to Miami. When we get off, FBI has to come and investigate. The body is still on the same floor that I'm sleeping on. I will note that it's highly unlikely that the body is kept in the stateroom. It's more likely that security and medical staff respond. Notify the captain, notify shore authorities. Usually they'll photograph the entire room and how the body is discovered, along with anything else of importance before moving the body to the morgue. Because every cruise ship has a morgue, but it's likely that security is stationed outside.
- [09:23]
C
Every cruise ship has a morgue.
- [09:24]
B
Every single cruise ship has a morgue. They don't have a morgue attendee or anything like that.
- [09:29]
C
But it's for incidents.
- [09:31]
B
Yeah. And usually the doctor on board, I believe will be the one taking care of the morgue. And again, a lot of them have gone on to Reddit because I was intrigued by this and I went down a rabbit hole. A lot of them say it sounds sinister, it sounds creepy because of all the news that we see. But a lot of the times it's elderly people. Wow. Which is still sad nonetheless. And they actually advocate that if you are a senior citizen going on a cruise, you should definitely get travel insurance because it can cover and help your family cover transport of your body back home, which would be different than if you were to.
- [10:02]
C
Well, my parents going on a cruise.
- [10:04]
B
Okay. Yeah.
- [10:06]
C
Wow. Interesting.
- [10:07]
B
Yeah, every cruise ship does have a morgue, and so it's very likely that the body was placed in the morgue. And there is security stationed outside the room to make sure nobody tampers with a potential open crime scene. Now, the tiktoker says at one point she, her sister had heard someone screaming for help. And then they find out that someone has potentially been killed on the same floor that they're on. I mean, she's understandably very freaked out. She says that she's not even going to leave her room for the rest of the 24 hours and she's just going to keep her scissors nearby just in case she doesn't know what's going on. So you have someone on TikTok claiming that someone was potentially killed on their floor. An alleged Carnival letter issued to passengers of that floor advising them that they're going to disembark earlier than the others. Then you have federal agents showing up to the vessel once it's docked, along with the Miami Dade county medical examiner. What the hell happened on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship? Just 24 hours before docking, a room attendant had walked into one of the state rooms. A lot of people will call them, like maids, housekeepers, room attendant. And there were three teenagers staying in this specific room together. You have 18 year old Anna Kepner. You have her 14 year old half brother. So they have the same dad. And then you have her 16 year old stepbrother. They have no blood relations. Okay, so the stepbrother's mom just married Anna's dad.
- [11:30]
C
Got it. Okay.
- [11:31]
B
The rest of their family are also on the cruise. They have two other rooms on the ship. And it was supposed to be this blended family cruise ship. They wanted to make it an annual thing. And then November 7, 2025, Anna is found by the room attendant under the mattress, wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets. She had been killed. And the main suspect so far, it appears might be her 16 year old stepbrother and her dad, her stepmom. They're all just being very suspicious. This is the current ongoing case of Anna Kepner and how every single adult in her life is being oddly weird about her passing about her murder on this cruise ship. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support the Joyful Heart Foundation. They're working to transform society's response to sa, DV and CA and support survivors healing with resources like education, advocacy, policy change. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's growing team and we would also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available@rogen mangopodcast.com Now a few disclaimers. Today's episode involves themes of potential essay. Lots of minors are going to be mentioned. All of their names are going to be redacted. There is also a very crazy custody battle that's in the works. So please watch with caution and take breaks if you need to. Today's episode is also currently ongoing. I'm sure many of you guys have been following the news, the updates, updates, the investigations. So this is going to be everything we know up until the release date of this episode. For updates past that, you can probably look for a pinned comment. I'm going to try to follow up as quickly as we get more developing news. No one has been found guilty in a court of law as of right now. I mean, these are all just allegations being shared by the police, the news, the media, and then some of them by the parents themselves. So with that in mind, let's get started. May 6, 2025. A message is sent from a woman named Chantel Kepner. Chantel is very important. Chantel is the stepbrother's mom. Chantel. She's the stepmom. Chantel. The stepmom.
- [13:53]
C
Chantel. Was Chantel on the ship?
- [13:55]
B
Yes, Chantel was on the ship. So this is six months before they get on the boat. Chantel is texting her ex husband, Thomas. And there's gonna be a lot of names, but I'm gonna try to make it clear. Thomas, the ex husband. Now, this text message reads, good afternoon. I wanted to give you a heads up that we have a family trip planned from November 2nd to November 8th. We'll be going on a cruise that departs from Miami and stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Mexico before returning to Miami. In order to move forward with the necessary travel documents, could you please send me your current mailing address so that I can send you the passport forms that need to be signed and I'll include a prepaid envelope for returning them. Thanks in advance. Chantel. Chantel and her ex husband Thomas, they share two kids together, a 16 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. She's going to take them both on this cruise and she wants permission because you know, that's how custody works. About a month later, the ex husband, Thomas, he's still not sent the forms back. He just responds, I'm not sure if I'm willing to sign the forms. I'm not okay with my kids going out of the country until we can find some common ground and set something up. I'm not okay with them leaving the state. Being that I have not talked to or seen my kids in so long, I will talk to my attorney and see what can be done. Maybe we can agree on something that benefits the kids, having both parents in their lives. Chantel will take the kids on the trip anyway and by the end of it, her 16 year old son is going to be a suspect in the murder of Anna Kepner. Nearly 32 hours after Anna Kepner is murdered, Chantel is going to text her ex husband once more. I need you to call me. It's an emergency. There are apparently five main categories for cruise liners. You've got mainstream, premium luxury, ultra luxury and expedition. Which expedition is essentially a cruise where you go through the Drake's Passage and end up in Antarctica or some other remote location. You're not really there for the all inclusive buffets and the casinos. You're there for the thrill. You're there to jump out of a helicopter and see a penguin. Obviously price point is going to be one of the main, if not the main thing about choosing which category of cruise liner you're going to end up on. I mean there's a different energy and vibe on each cruise, even just by the brand, even if it's in the same category, if it's a different brand, it's got a different energy. So starting with ultra luxury, think Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, Seabourn, Silver Sea. It's intimate. Perhaps only 200 to 750 guests on a boat. I imagine a much more older demographic. I've actually heard of a lot of people who are like I'm gonna splurge and go on a honeymoon on one of these ultra luxury yacht trips like the Ritz Carlton. And by heard of people I mean on Reddit and they say that they regret it because you're Just with a bunch of 60 year old rich retirees and there's no fun. It's just a lot of fine dining.
- [16:40]
C
So that's the most expensive one.
- [16:42]
B
Yes. Unless you're chartering a yacht, which is not really a cruise at that point.
- [16:45]
C
How much are those? You know.
- [16:47]
B
Yeah. So it really depends on how long you're going to be there. What's interesting about the ultra luxury trips is they never start and end in the same place. So you have to think about travel accommodations from the start position to the end position.
- [16:59]
C
That's weird.
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B
For example, Seabourn eight day trip in Japan and then it ends in Hong Kong. Huh? Yeah.
- [17:06]
C
You have to fly back, you have.
- [17:08]
B
To fly to Japan and then you might not leave the same day. So then you got to find accommodations and then you have to find a flight from Hong Kong back to wherever you live. It's just, it's kind of weird. But for that it's about. It depends on the room. 3,500 to $10,000 a person for an eight day trip. The Ritz Carlton is even worse, starting at 11 to $12,000 a person for a similar trip. And then a small step down from that would be luxury and small yacht cruises. Oceania, Viking Ocean, Windstar. Again, much smaller ships in general. A huge focus still on the food, lots of focus on fine dining. These are the types of boats that are going to be like, we have a Michelin star chef on board. A lot of companies in this tier are going to try to market the experience as almost like being on your own private yacht. It's very private. Some of these cruise liners, it's a one to one staff ratio, staff to passenger ratio. Then you have the next step down, premium cruise liners. Princess Holland America, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Voyages, which please don't book Virgin Voyages unless. Okay, so. No, you can. But you should know that from my extensive Reddit researching that I've done, as someone who has never been on a cruise, Virgin Voyages has become Swingers Paradise. It's an adults only cruise line.
- [18:25]
C
Oh. But some people might be into that.
- [18:27]
B
Yeah. So I'm just saying don't book it until you kind of know what's going on. Even if you're not into it. I think it could be fun. I'm just saying you should be aware before you get on the boat and then you just see like a bunch of upside down pineapples everywhere. Which I believe is the symbol for swinging.
- [18:40]
C
Yes, I see.
- [18:41]
B
And then you have the Disney cruises, which are very expensive. Much the opposite of virgin voyages, child focused, family focused. And then after that you've got your mainstream or what they call mass market cruise lines. And these are your Royal Caribbean's, your carnivals. And each company has a different energy. People say Royal Caribbean is a bit more laid back, but these ships, Royal Caribbean has the mega ships. When you see those pictures of a giant water park on the sea, it's a Royal Caribbean most of the time. When you see ice skating rinks, you in a ship that's Royal Caribbean, think about entire Six Flags amusement parks on a boat type of feeling. However, however, that's the most fun you're going to get out of Royal Caribbean. The parties are not going to be as fun, the casinos are not as hyped. So you're going to really focus a lot on going down the water slide nonstop for eight days straight. That's the point of the Royal Caribbean. Now Carnival is a lot more social oriented and by that I mean it's just a party on water. People say Carnival is like going back to a frat party, but being out at sea and it's very family friendly. The Carnival Horizon, perhaps not as you know, amenity focused as any other Royal Caribbean ship. It still has a whole water park, smaller IMAX theaters, they've got Family Feud Live, they have other live performances and this specific trip, the Carnival Horizon. So the Horizon is the ship name is going to set sail from Port Miami November 2nd. It's going to be at sea for six nights, going to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico, before finally returning back to Port Miami. All in all, six days at sea. I believe two of those are sea days. So you have port days and sea days. Port days is like when you're docked at the port in Mexico and everyone can get off the ship. They have activities planned by the cruise ship that you can purchase or you can do your own thing in Mexico, but you have to make it back on time to the cruise ship or they will leave. They're so cutthroat about this, they don't care if you're a five year old child, they will leave you. So you got your sea days, you've got your port days. And it appears the very first day at sea is the infamous sail away party. This is like the most anticipated part of the Carnival Horizon. You have everyone on deck, there is a dj, there's entertainment, everybody's dancing, everybody's singing, and there is a passenger who takes a video of everyone doing the Cupid Shuffle and it pans around the deck and you see a teenage Girl in a white shirt, black shorts, doing the Cupid Shuffle. This is not really a magnificent video. It's not spectacularly filmed. It's not. It's not the most engaging. It's not something that would typically go viral on social media, but it does because you see Anna Kepner dancing and you see her grandma in pink standing nearby. And by all accounts, it seems like Anna is very much enjoying her time with her grandparents on this ship. One comment reads, sweet baby. Just having fun with her grandparents who.
- [21:24]
C
Were all on the ship besides the three kids.
- [21:27]
B
Yeah, okay, so we're going to get into that. I do need to give you a quick rundown on the family background. 18 year old Anna's biological parents are Chris Kepner. This is her dad. Anna's dad is Chris Kepner. And this woman named Heather. Heather does not live in Florida with Anna. She does not live in Florida with anybody. She apparently has very little, if any, contact with Anna, and there's quite a contentious relationship between the two. More on that later. But Anna's biological mom is a woman named Heather that lives in Oklahoma. Anna never really sees her. Anna doesn't really interact with her. In fact, Anna seems to have a lot of resentment towards her mom. So she mainly lives with her dad, Chris Kepner. And when Anna is three years old, her dad, Chris Kepner, remarries a woman named Tabitha. So this is Anna's first stepmom is Tabitha. This part is also contentious, but it's been alleged that Chris cheated on Heather, Anna's biological mom, with their babysitter, Tabitha. To add fuel to that theory, I suppose, is the fact that Chris and Tabitha get married, and they do have a very substantial age gap. And so now Heather moves to Oklahoma. She leaves her biological daughter, Anna moves to Oklahoma. Anna has a new stepmom. Tabitha then gives birth to Anna's first sibling, half sibling. This is September of 2011, which means Tabitha was very pregnant when she married Chris. Actually, that's Anna's first half sibling. Then six years later, Tabitha and Chris have another child, a baby girl this time. So just another recap. Chris and Heather have Anna. They divorce. Chris marries Tabitha. They have a son. They have a daughter. Two wives, three kids, though, so far. Then Chris and Tabitha have a pretty nasty divorce where Tabitha gets primary custody of the two minor children, but not Anna. She's been Anna's stepmom since Anna was 3 to 16 years old, but she can't get custody of Anna and Anna's, you know, gonna turn 18 soon. Turn into an adult soon. And then Chris remarries another woman named Chantel. Now Chantel has three kids of her own from a previous marriage to Thomas. So these are going to be Anna's step siblings. She's got an 18 year old son named Andrew. Andrew is going to be very important later, but he's not on this cruise ship. I don't even think that Andrew and Anna really interacted much because Andrew stayed with his dad. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc with an all star ensemble cast for his most dangerous case yet. When young priest Judd Duplentisi is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it's clear that all is not well in the pews. Written and directed by Rian Johnson. Critics are calling it the sharpest Knives out movie yet. Watch Wake Up Dead Man, A Knives Out Mystery now in select theaters and on Netflix. Rated PG13. You guys know how holiday potlucks or friendsgivings go. Three days before the party, everyone's texting the group chat. Wait, who's handling dessert again? Who's on beverages? Should I just grab something on the way? Here's what I learned after years of holiday stress shopping. Just bring Stella Rosa. Just do it. Stella Rosa Black makes every get together feel special. And Stella Rosa Black Sparkling is the bottle that makes every gathering feel like a celebration. Sweet enough that even your cousin who really drink can join in on the celebration. Festive enough to feel special and honestly, just the right choice no matter what chaos is happening around the dinner table. It's made with natural ingredients and around 100 calories a glass. There's something about that slightly sweet bubbly situation that just works, whether we're doing a fancy sit down dinner or just hanging around someone's kitchen island picking at appetizers. The holidays are complicated enough without having to stress about who brings what to the potluck or who's on desserts and who's on beverages for Thanksgiving this year. When that inevitable group tech starts, take it from me and volunteer for wine duty. You can't go wrong with Stella Rosa. Grab a bottle or two today to make your holiday celebrations even more special. Must be 21 plus please stelebrate responsibly.
- [25:18]
A
What's wrong with Ben? In Primate, a beloved family chimp suddenly turns everything they taught him he's now using against them. Primate is smart, intense and packed with jaw dropping moments. Ben is calculating, powerful, and disturbingly human. This is the kind of horror film that shocks you when you least expect it. It's already sitting at 92% on rotten tomatoes and premiered to rave reviews at festival. Go see Primate in theaters January 9th when it hits theaters. Do not wait. Grab a seat and bring someone you can squeeze during the scary parts.
- [25:54]
B
So 18 year old Andrew stays with Thomas. Chantel brings two minor children into this relationship. Her 16 year old son the main suspect so far and then her nine year old daughter.
- [26:04]
C
Got it.
- [26:05]
B
Okay, so they get married. So this is where the custody gets a little bit complicated. Okay, I'm just gonna give you an overview of all the children and this is going to be organized in relation to when the children come into Anna's life. You have 18 year old Anna, her 14 year old half brother from Tabitha, her 10 year old half sister from Tabitha and now from Chantel with no biological relation. She has her 18 year old stepbrother Andrew, her 16 year old stepbrother and her 9 year old stepsister. And just to clarify, not all of them live in the same house. When you're talking about who lives in the same house, you've got Chris Kepner, the dad, Chantel the new stepmom. And because remember Tabitha gets custody of the two minor kids. Chris just has Anna full time. And then Chantel, 18 year old Andrew is with her ex. So she's got two minor kids, the stepson and the stepdaughter, 16 year old, 9 year old. So it's the three of them living under one roof, the three kids. But it's a three bedroom house. Chris and Chantel, they get a room. Chantel's 16 year old son gets a room and Chantal's nine year old daughter gets a room. So that's three for three. And 18 year old Anna is left sleeping in the dining room. She has partitioned it off a little bit to make it a little bit cozier. But it is a dining room. At the end of the day I thought it was going to be more of a dining room. Like you know how if it's sectioned off with walls on each side and maybe there's an opening into the kitchen. But no, it's like right next to the kitchen, it's more so like a breakfast nook. So in another TikTok, you know you see bits of this dining room set up, room set up. But you have a lot of tiktoks that Anna had posted where it does seem like, and this is obvious speculation but it does appear that perhaps Anna really was excited to get out of the house soon. She was set to graduate high school in May of 2026. So she's six months away from graduating. She wants to enlist in the Navy. She's already taken a military enlistment test. She wants to join the Navy, become a canine officer. And there seems to be a lot of tension. I don't know who the tension is directed towards. There are some reports that she didn't like her new stepmom, Chantel, that she was complaining, like, these are essentially strangers that moved into our house. I don't know these people. And now I just have to act like she's my new stepmom. There is that sort of energy.
- [28:08]
C
There's a report somewhere.
- [28:10]
B
Yeah. That is like a basically hearsay report. And then there are tiktoks that she herself has posted where she expresses a lot of disappointment towards her biological mom for not being in her life and towards ex boyfriends, but also just life in general. In one TikTok, it's just a photo slide of three pictures. And the first one says, a glow stick has to break before it can glow. You swipe. So I broke swipe. And now I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to glow again. Another one with the caption reads, having a good heart will only get you hurt in this generation. So it seems like Anna's going through a lot. Some people categorize it as teenage angst. But I will say I think the people around her, the adults in her life, are pretty shit people. And that's not an implication of guilt. I just. I personally think that they're not great.
- [28:55]
C
Really?
- [28:55]
B
Yeah. November 17, 2025. Over a week after the cruise ship docks in Port Miami, a post starts circulating on X. It's from a man named Martin. And Martin writes, I need everybody's help on this. If you haven't heard this story, then you've been living under a rock. This is my niece, Anna kepner. She was 18 and was on a cruise ship with her dad, stepmom and the family members. I cannot stay silent about this matter any longer. The stepmom son killed her, stuffed her naked, beaten body in a sheet and stuffed her under a bed and covered her with life jackets, then slept on the bed like nothing happened. He told his mom when no one could find Anna on the ship. So, yes, they know who did this. And it sickens me that the father, Chris, remains silent about it. Please pass this on till maybe it gets to somebody that can do something about it. If nothing is done, it will all come out on the 20th. At least that's what the stepmom has said. After threatening Family, if they talk before, they're going to be banned from the funeral. The remembrance of life for Anna. Please pass this so my family can get closure. And the people who did this and lied and stalled to tell the rest of us what happened when it did, now you just look guilty of a cover up. Martin Donahue is not just a random nobody. Martin Donahue is Tabitha's brother. And Tabitha was Anna's stepmom from when Anna was 3 years old to 16 years old. I mean, she's been like the primary mother figure in Anna's life. I couldn't find any post of Anna talking about her stepmom specifically or what their relationship was like, but it, it seems like nothing alarming or contentious about it. I mean, they share half siblings. Anna shares half siblings that are Tabitha's kids and she loves her half siblings. So it seems like they had a healthy relationship. And this is Tabitha's brother saying something's going on. My niece was killed and her own biological father is being silent about it at this point.
- [30:39]
C
Isn't the police investigating?
- [30:41]
B
Yes.
- [30:41]
C
So what is he?
- [30:42]
B
You know, I think right when the cruise ship docked and FBI showed up to the ship, a lot of Anna's close immediate family members, they were posting like very vague statements of Anna's passing. Just talking about how she will be remembered, how she was Anna Banana, how she was bubbly and wanted to be a canine officer and always loved Georgia Bulldogs and wanted to go to uga. It was unclear.
- [31:04]
C
She's from Atlanta.
- [31:06]
B
No. So she's actually from Florida. But she.
- [31:08]
C
Oh, she want to go to uga.
- [31:09]
B
She's a dogs fan. Yeah, apparently. But it's just, he's saying it's weird because all these people are making it seem like something tragic happened on the boat when he's like, no, my niece was killed and I'm pretty sure it was her stepbrother that was on the boat with her.
- [31:23]
C
So nobody's like fighting for justice for Anna.
- [31:25]
B
Exactly. It seems like a very quiet investigation that's happening and now this is just thrusting it into the spotlight of, okay, so she was killed. I mean, there were some reports that she was found under the mattress. So it was assumed that she had been murdered. But this is the most detailed information that has come out thus far. And there are a lot of weird things about it. Immediately after this post, like, like three days after Anna's grandparents do an ABC interview and everyone starts talking about the room arrangements. The room arrangements are very strange. There are nine members of the family joining the cruise and you've got three rooms. So the first room you just have the grandparents, Barbara and Jimmy or Jeffrey. He's not as important. Barbara is Meemaw. This is like Anna's favorite person in the world, it seems like. And she's always posting about her grandma and she calls her Meemaw. And Meemaw has been the more active one in interviews.
- [32:16]
C
I'm sorry, did I miss, I don't know if I missed this, but are they.
- [32:19]
B
They're Chris's parents.
- [32:20]
C
Got it.
- [32:21]
B
So Chris Kepner's parents, Grandma and grandpa are in one room. So that's two out of the nine family members. Now there are seven family members left. The second room you've got Chris Kepner and Chantel and then you have their two youngest daughters from separate marriages. So you've got Chris and Tabitha's 10 year old daughter and then you have chantel and Thomas's nine year old daughter. So that's four of the nine. Now there's only three family members left. You've got 18 year old Anna, Chantel and Thomas's 16 year old son and Chris and Tabitha's 14 year old son. So you've got Anna's 14 year old half brother and her 16 year old stepbrother. The only child not included in the cruise is 18 year old Andrew from Chantel's marriage, Previous marriage, who stays with his dad.
- [33:06]
C
Got it.
- [33:07]
B
But everybody else is on this cruise.
- [33:08]
C
So people didn't like this room setup or.
- [33:11]
B
Yeah, people do not like this room setup. It's a weird. Okay. I, I mean when you do look into the room, it's not like they're sharing beds. The room seems like it has one bed on the ground and then two bunk beds on top. So these cruise ships, they, they pack people into these rooms. So you've got one bed where it seems like Anna probably slept in that bed and then two of the Pullman bunks. It seems like both the boys slept in that one. The 14 year old half brother and the 16 year old stepson.
- [33:39]
C
Okay.
- [33:39]
B
But it's just, I'm not a parent but I probably would not do the room arrangements like that. It's very weird to have an 18 year old girl and a 16 year old boy who have maybe known each other for two years have no like blood relations staying in the same room. People. That is very odd because, okay, Anna and her half brother, nobody thinks that's odd. And they grew up together. Whereas this boy, I mean Anna just met this boy like two years ago.
- [34:04]
C
Yeah, I See, so there is a.
- [34:06]
B
Lot of just weird. And I'm sure there are many healthy family dynamics where this could have worked out perfectly fine but clearly this was not one of them. So there's just a lot of uncomfort. And a lot of people, a lot of parents have been sounding off in all the comments sections of how they personally would have handled it. And it seems like most parents are in agreement like this would have never happened in their house. You should at least have an adult in there. It almost seems like they put 18 year old Anna in there as the adult. I mean I can get really technical with it if you're interested because I was, I was even trying to take a poll of what a lot of parents in the comments were saying. So the first one was a lot of people thought either Anna should have been placed with her grandparents, but then the problem that the Kepners would have had is that you can't put a 16 year old and a 14 year old boy in one room. You need to have some sort of adult. So it seems like a irresponsible choice from the adults involved. So it seems like the best solution would have been Anna to be with her grandparents and then they should have figured something out with the two teenage boys. And then the second option would have been that Anna gets her own room and then maybe the boys are with the grandparents. And then the third option that I saw pulled a lot was like you just, if you're taking nine people on a cruise and you're budgeting, you just have to split up. So they were saying you should put Chris Kepner, the dad, with the two boys and then you should put Chantel with the two young girls. Maybe Anna and then the grandparents can get their own room. But it just seems like maybe Chris and Chantal were very maybe selfish about the room organization. It was just a weird room organization. No parent really thinks that this was okay.
- [35:37]
C
I see.
- [35:38]
B
Yeah. I think the only parents I see in the comments that are saying, oh, this is perfectly fine, they seem to be from a much older generation. I don't know how that affects it, but it's very interesting now even Anna's own grandma states to abc, whatever happened in that room, the only person responsible is the person that was in the room with Anna. According to Anna's death certificate, Anna Kepner died by mechanical asphyxia by another person. It has been widely reported that she appears to have been held in a bar hold and this is even reported by her grandmother. This is her theory and hypothesis of how Anna was killed. There were reportedly bruises on the side of Anna's neck and a bar hold, if you're unfamiliar, is when someone wraps and holds your neck in the crook of their elbow. Anna's grandparents are stating that she was not found beaten. There were bruises on her neck from the asphyxiation. But you know, it's not like Martin Donahue's ex post where it says that she was beaten up. There was evidence of SA and all of these other things. Anna's family is refuting that. They're saying actually no, there was no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system. There was no signs of essay. But yes, she was killed basically.
- [36:42]
C
So it doesn't show she had been essayed on the certificate.
- [36:46]
B
The death certificate does not show. But this is not her autopsy.
- [36:51]
C
I see.
- [36:51]
B
Right, right. Anna's grandparents, who she's been really close with, I mean, they might have been some of Anna's favorite people in the entire world. And more on that later. But they do an interview with abc, like I said, said days after Martin Donahue's social media post. And the grandma says she was found concealed under the bed. I was told that the room attendant pulled back the mattress and found Anna. The FBI contacted my son, Chris Kepner and told us her cause of death was asphyxiation. They said when they took her body to the medical examiner's office, it was in perfect condition. Anna's grandparents further tell ABC News that there were no signs of essay, drugs or alcohol. And as for the social media conversation of the stepbrother, the 16 year old old stepbrother being the suspect, Anna's grandparents say, I mean, he was in the room with her. He was the only one seen coming and going. So I can't accuse him because I don't know what happened in that room. But the summation would be that he did something. Anna's grandma Barbara says that she actually sat in on the 16 year old stepbrother talking to the FBI agents. And he told the FBI agents he doesn't remember what happened. And here's where it gets so weird. Anna is Barbara's biological grandchildren. She's known Anna since she was born. And the 16 year old stepbrother probably entered grandma's life two, three years ago max. But grandma believes the 16 year old stepbrother that he doesn't remember anything that's happened. She believes him. She says he was an emotional mess. He couldn't even speak. He couldn't believe what had happened. She says about their relationship, they were Just like brother and sister. He was a good student, played soccer, very quiet young man. He had demons, I think in his past that he was trying to deal with those. She ends the interview with a statement. I hope that we can heal whatever happened in that room. The only person responsible is the person that was in the room with Anna.
- [38:32]
C
Why she keeps saying that? Yeah, I mean, but she says she believes that the brother doesn't know what's going on.
- [38:38]
B
What? Yeah. Now as for what justice looks like for her, because she's asked that, she says whatever the law says, I'm not going to advocate for anything more or anything less. And that will be for the court to decide. A lot of netizens find it odd that the grandparents sound like they have so much sympathy for this 16 year old boy that they probably hardly know. And maybe we are just evil sick people and we would want this 16 year old to be arrested. But it doesn't even just seem like oh well he's 16 so we should take that into consideration. But we still need absolute justice for my granddaughter. I want to know exactly what happened and why it happened and how it happened. I want to know everything and I want to make sure that society is protected from this child who could maybe charged as an adult. It's not that energy, it's kind of weird, it's just very calm. It's almost like they're both her grandchildren by blood. Yeah, but you've only known one of them for like two years. And you also say things like he's had demons in his past that he was working through. But you also believe that he doesn't remember anything. It's just odd.
- [39:37]
C
She didn't say what demon?
- [39:38]
B
No.
- [39:39]
C
Okay.
- [39:39]
B
And then also she's like he played soccer, he was a quiet kid. I don't know what that has to do with anything. And so netizen comments are reading they failed her too. Quote, I would be voicing negatively more about the person that killed my granddaughter. I wouldn't be saying he played, played soccer and he was a quiet and good kid and blah blah blah. Another comment reads, anybody else creeped out by this entire family? Another comment reads he had demons in his past that he was dealing with. Why on earth would he be allowed in the same room with Anna, a teenage girl who in reality was not related to him except through marriage of her dad. What a shame for Anna, God bless her soul.
- [40:09]
C
Okay, so I guess my question is there were two other people, the 16 year old stepbrother and the 14 year old brother.
- [40:17]
B
There's a hearsay statement if you will, but he was not in the room at the time. Anna's grandmother ultimately states, I can't accuse him because I don't know what happened in that room. But I believe to him that is his truth. He was an emotional mess. He couldn't even speak. He couldn't believe what had happened. To which people are commenting along the lines of he couldn't even speak because he was traumatized or because he was exercising his right to remain silent. People also don't like the fact that the grandparents intentionally described them as being just like brother and sister. Which people are saying to say that almost indicates that they were not just like brother and sister. Not indicating that something nefarious was happening, but like it's a very odd thing to say rather than something generic like they got along well, they were adjusting well to being a blended family. They shared the same sense of humor. Chantel, the stepbrother's mom, later in a slightly unrelated court hearing, she does confirm that the FBI have they believe that her 16 year old son is a suspect and Anna's murder.
- [41:16]
C
What does unrelated court hearing mean?
- [41:18]
B
Okay, we're gonna get into this whole court hearing in a second. But Chantel and Thomas Hudson have three kids together.
- [41:24]
C
Yes.
- [41:25]
B
Andrew. 18 year old Andrew is with Thomas Hudson. Chantel had 16 year old son and 9 year old daughter in her care. After the cruise, 16 year old son is sent to a third party to stay with them. 9 year old daughter is still with Chantel. Thomas Hudson does an emergency court filing for custody over the nine year old daughter. He's like, oh no, like your stepdaughter died on this cruise ship that I didn't want you guys to go on. And our son is a suspect with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. I want my 9 year old daughter in my primary custody. So there's this emergency court filing, there's two different hearings and it just becomes half about custody, half about the cruise.
- [42:06]
C
Interesting.
- [42:07]
B
That's why we're getting a lot of information about this cruise when typically the feds are very hush hush about things and they're hush hush. They haven't said anything themselves but through a custody battle. And it's very likely that it's because the custody battle is happening in Florida that we're getting this much information. Florida has one of the more relaxed laws about family courts and custody battles being public information. So states have like different regulations for that but Florida is a little bit more open. Wow. With the holidays coming around, you may be planning to Take a road trip with all your siblings packed into the back of a car. Whatever you're doing this winter season, break the ice with Icebreakers gum. With flavored crystals that deliver a bold cooling effect, Icebreakers keeps you refreshed and ready to take on whatever's next. And here's a bonus. The pack fits perfectly in your cart, cup holder or bag, so it's within reach whenever you need it most. 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They can talk directly to the person through the camera, letting them know that they're on video and even alert the authorities. I've been using Simplisafe at home for a while now and the peace of mind is so unmatched. I arm it every single time I leave the house Even if it's just for a quick errand because I can control everything in basically two seconds on my phone. If you've been putting off upgrading your security, don't wait. Check out Simplisafe because stopping a break in is way better than dealing with one this month. Only take 50% off any new system. This is one of the best prices you will ever see for Simplisafe. Don't miss it. Hit simplisafe.com rotten again. That's simplisafe.com rotten and lock in your discount. There's no safe like Simplisafe. But it's in this custody hearing after the cruise ship that Chantel is like. I mean the three of them, Anna, my 16 year old son and Anna's 14 year old half brother, they're like the three amigos. They're. That's literally her words, three amigos. They're best friends. That is not what anybody else is saying. Anna has been pretty active on TikTok before her passing and I think if you go through her TikTok, there's a lot of emotions that she's dealing with and one of them is clearly about relationships, romantic relationships. One from September 4th reads. She isn't trying to argue. She isn't trying to be sensitive. She isn't trying to overthink. She doesn't mean to blow up your phone. She doesn't mean to ask if you still love her and want to be with her still. She doesn't mean to yell. She's like that because she just wants you to see her side of things. She wants to feel loved and heard. She just wants reassurance to make her feel better. She just doesn't want to lose the man. That makes her feel like the happiest woman ever. So it indicates, like maybe there was a bad breakup. Another TikTok Anna writes even after every breakup, being disrespected, being lied to, being cheated on, being used, getting manipulated, getting played, I will always have a smile on my face and a kind heart. I don't know why I've been through what I've been through, but I can promise you I never deserved it. Am I mad at those people for what they did to me? No. Am I upset? Yes. But at the end of the day we are all human and we make mistakes. I'm glad that I went through that just because it made me realize that I don't want it in my life. At the end of the day, I pray that one day y' all will learn what y' all did was wrong wrong and don't do it anymore to anyone else because no one deserves to be treated like that. So this is from like a month before the cruise. However, we don't know which ex this is about or if it's just like general life experience. But one of Anna's ex boyfriends has come out to state that Anna's stepbrother has always been creepy. The 16 year old stepbrother, 16 year old Chantel son has always been creepy and he's basically confirmed online suspicion that the stepbrother was involved. He states that the stepbrother was never normal with Anna. He says quote, he's like infatuated, attracted to her like crazy. He always wanted to date her.
- [47:18]
C
That's crazy. What is this like through some news reporting or just TikTok online?
- [47:22]
B
He did an interview and it was like a short two second, right? But he said that there was this incident where he's on FaceTime with Anna. Anna falls asleep and mind you, she's in the dining room because she doesn't have her own room with the lockable door. And he notices that the stepbrother had allegedly come into the dining room area and tried to get on top of her. So Josh, the ex boyfriend starts freaking out and he's screaming hey, what are you doing? And he says that he just hears the stepbrother run away. You just hear audible footsteps like scurrying through the house. One of Anna's aunts. So this is now Heather, her biological mom's sister. So you've got Tabitha's brother who made the ex post and then now you have Heather's sisters who have also been speaking out. And Heather's sisters are saying this is not new information. Everyone in the family knew that this stepbrother was creepy and, and even Anna's dad Chris knew. That's what she claims. In fact, Anna's aunt states Anna wasn't really wanting to go on this cruise because the stepbrother was going. I had found out that she was sharing the room with the boy and I can see her, you know, just not being comfortable with it. But I guess putting up with it. She only has to sleep in the bed at night and the rest of the time she could avoid him out on the deck or something. She just wasn't comfortable with the boy. She was worried about him. She had worries and it's been like that almost the entire time that they lived together. The ex boyfriend also confirms this theory. He says that Anna, during the time that they were dating was would consistently try to sleep over at friends houses because she just really hated going home that much because of her stepbrother is what he claims. Now this is weird because Anna's stepmom Chantel says that they're just the three amigos. Anna's grandparents state that they're all so close just like brother and sister And I will say I haven't shown a lot of the tiktoks here because Anna's actual half brother, the 14 year old boy, he's a child and his name is redacted but Anna posts a lot of tiktoks with her younger brother. She like barely posts anything with her stepbrother. I think there's one picture of him holding an award that he got and she's just like standing next to him smiling and then a few family photos but she doesn't post any TikTok. She doesn't post anything specifically from herself with her stepbrother. So I don't know Chantel if they're the three amigos.
- [49:18]
C
So are you saying the 16 year old, the name is still redacted like nobody, like people are not reporting on him.
- [49:24]
B
It seems like everybody who is invest looking into the case knows the name.
- [49:30]
C
So you're just choosing not to say it until there's like an official.
- [49:33]
B
Yeah, yeah. Just because it seems from Chantel it seems that he is a suspect in Anna's murder but until there are charges and until we know legally if he's being charged as an adult, this is not like a moral decision on my part. I do think that if he is guilty of killing someone, I mean I think it's fine to use his name. Yeah.
- [49:54]
C
But I think just to be safe.
- [49:55]
B
God it even Anna's ex boyfriend's dad. So this is now Josh's dad has come forward to state yet the stepbrother was obsessed with Anna and not in a good way. He says when Josh, my son Josh and Anna were dating one time Josh came home and was like listen, I tried to talk to Chris Kepner, Anna's dad about how the stepbrother is a creep and he just wouldn't listen to me. I don't know how true this is. This is, you know, just an allegation at this point and they mentioned that Anna was always terrified of the stepbrother because he carried around a big knife.
- [50:22]
C
Wow.
- [50:23]
B
Now these are more allegations and we don't know but the half brother of Anna. So this is the 14 year old that was also in the room. He apparently told Anna's ex Boyfriend later, after the cruise that the night that Anna was killed, he had gone to the room after dinner. He had gotten changed and he wanted to go outside to take pictures. So he leaves. He comes back and the door is locked. So he's trying to come back to sleep for the night. He's not allowed in, but he hears screaming and what sounds like maybe a chair being thrown inside the room. Room is the report. We don't know if this is true and I assume that this is pretty normal behavior for the stepbrother because the half brother just goes back to the deck. He doesn't call his dad, he doesn't call his stepmom, he just goes back to the deck. And I imagine it's because either the parents don't do anything when this type of occurrence happens or this is a regular occurrence because if this is the first time it's happening, you would call somebody.
- [51:12]
C
Yeah.
- [51:12]
B
And I'm not blaming the 14 year old for not doing anything like this is. I'm just saying this is alarming that this seems to be normal. And then he comes back to the room and he's let in. He doesn't see a mess, he doesn't see any blood or like anything alarming. He doesn't see Anna. So he just assumes that Anna is out of the room with the adults. And it's not like he's sleeping on the same bed as Anna. He's sleeping on a bunk bed. So he just climbs up to his bunk bed and goes to sleep. And Anna is in the same room, deceased, under her mattress. I think that the life jackets were to level out the mattress a bit and then probably the comforter on top. I, I don't think that you probably wouldn't see, especially if you're 14. And I don't even know if a regular adult had opened the door. If they just glanced in, if they would be able to notice something would be amiss. It seems like the room attendant was trying to make the bed. So that's.
- [52:03]
C
Oh, that's how it was discovered.
- [52:05]
B
Yeah, I don't think it was just like I opened the door and the room attends. Oh, I see something, a lump under the bed. I think she was probably trying to make the bed. So I imagine the life jackets were used to level out the mattress.
- [52:16]
C
So this is like the next day, next morning they were out like having breakfast and someone was cleaning the room.
- [52:23]
B
Exactly.
- [52:23]
C
Wow.
- [52:24]
B
So he doesn't realize until the next morning that his sister is missing. If you are a parent on a cruise, you have A few very important pertinent jobs. You make sure that your kid gets back on the boat after they leave the port. You make sure you know where your kids are and that they're safe at any given time. And let's throw in a third one. You make sure that they take their meds. Concerta and clonidine is a pretty commonly prescribed combination. So Concerta is typically prescribed for adhd. It's kind of like, I guess more typically Vyvans. Adderall are common names. It's not the same drug, it's different, but it's in that family. And clonidine is for insomnia. So Concerta is like Adderall. It's a stimulant for adhd. A lot of people report that it's less of a huge up and down. So I know if you've taken Adderall before, you're probably like, oh my gosh, okay, this kid is on Adderall. It could be a little dangerous. But it's not like Adderall. It seems where the crashes are big, it seems a little bit more of a plateau, but it does keep you up because it's a stimulant. It increases dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain and, and of course this interacts with each person differently. And clonidine can be prescribed for a lot of things including insomnia, which can help with the Concerta. So you've got this stimulant in the morning for ADHD and then you probably take clonidine at night so that you can kind of release that anxiety and get to bed. It can help with sleep, irritability, aggression, sometimes even for tics. I know some people with Tourette's are prescribed it emotional dysregulation or even hyper arousal. I would say any sort of stimulant and combination of stimulant and relaxers should not be something that you just take when you remember it. I'm not a pharmacist. My sister is a pharmacist. And Anna's 16 year old stepbrother is diagnosed with ADHD. And so he takes that concerta, one pill a day, every single morning. And then he takes the clonidine a pill a night for insomnia, every single night. This has been, it's seemingly his medication regimen for three to four years. Years it seems. Chantal says that during the cruise she was the one that held onto his medications, which makes sense. So every single morning she gives him that Concerta, the stimulant for the adhd. And then at night she gives him the clonidine so that he can go to sleep, so that he can emotionally regulate, so that this can relax him. It'll help with his irritability. Except the last two nights. So the night of Anna's death and the night before, she forgets to give him the insomnia medication. Medication.
- [54:46]
C
How do we find out about that?
- [54:48]
B
The court hearing for the emergency custody battle. She says the night before Anna's death he had fallen asleep before needing his medication, so he was already asleep. Now, a lot of doctors, I did look into it, they do advise that you don't wake up your sleeping child to give them the clonidine, but you could probably give it to them the next morning or you can just make sure that they don't skip another dosage. Then the next night, the night of Anna's murder, she states that she fell asleep before giving him his medication, which again, clonidine is not something you just miss. It's not a take as needed type of prescription. If he already fell asleep, that's fine. And I don't know how frequently you can let that happen, but this is you need. Typically it's not even just a take it once a day. Typically it's a daily medication that you take at the same time every day. You set an alarm on your phone type of medication. Medical guidelines for the drug read do not stop taking clonidine suddenly. It's must be tapered gradually over days to weeks to avoid dangerous blood pressure spikes and withdrawal. And even if you are to miss more than one dose in a row, you are instructed to call your doctor immediately because you're at risk of withdrawal symptoms. It does a lot of things to your blood pressure. You may need to restart on a lower dose and then work your way back up to your normal dose than just going back at it to avoid cardiovascular and behavioral problems. But Chantal is like, I just fell asleep. And I don't want to speculate, but I do imagine that it's if the 16 year old stepbrother is eventually arrested and charged for Anna's murder and potentially there is a trial where he is even tried as an adult. I would imagine that it's highly likely that the defense attorneys would use this as some sort of argument because with clonidine withdrawal you're expected to feel high rates of irritability, your behavioral issues are going to be exacerbated. It's just not going to be a good time. Just like any drug withdrawal, it's not going to be a good time. Does that mean that you're not in the right state of mind and that you are unable to think and make conscious decisions? Probably not, but it seems like something that they would probably use in this hypothetical situation. It's speculated even by Anna's grandparents that Anna was killed in that bar hold. And just to mention, even if someone is highly irritable, even if they are going through a drug withdrawal and I don't know, I think everyone's biology is different, but to kill someone with a bar hold, you are holding on for a very long time. To give you an idea, one netizen explains, with no blood to the brain you're looking at 10 to 20 seconds to pass out. But it would still take another four to five minutes for serious brain damage or even death. Notably with these types of chokeholds where you are physically restraining oxygen from entering a person's brain, consciousness will be regained pretty quickly as you let go. So let's say they fall unconscious after 30 seconds. If you let go, it's more likely that they're going to regain consciousness very quickly and not die. So it's very unlikely that you can choke someone for 30 seconds and then they die. Unless there's some sort of pre existing condition already there or other circumstances we don't know about. It's technically possible but usually not, it's going to take like five minutes. Another interesting detail to note is everyone kind of gives this vibe that the 16 year old boy is you know, some tabloid news article articles have described him as having a baby face, as being a very meek young looking little boy. In an email from Chantel to her ex husband, the stepbrother's dad Thomas, she writes that their son wants to start doing jujitsu so she's gonna look into that. I don't know if he started and she also. In another text message thread after she takes their kids to the hospital, Chantel informs her ex husband that the stepbrother is now 5 foot 8. And just to give you more I guess color to the whole picture. Further messages show Chantel sends Thomas the 16 year old son's report card. So she's sending Thomas both of the minors report cards for the 16 year old son and the 9 year old girl. And Thomas responds and we can't see the report card, it's just attachments. So these are screenshots. Thomas Hudson in this emergency custody court filing he drops like a hundred plus page document and half of it are just text messages between him and chantel back from 2024 and leading up to, up to just like a few weeks ago, days, weeks after the murder of Anna Kepner.
- [58:55]
C
Okay.
- [58:56]
B
So he's like using this all as proof of like I need to have custody of the nine year old daughter. Here's all of our text message exchanges. This I've never really seen happen in a lot of cases because you'll find out after. Usually the indictment is when you get a lot of information and then you're going into trial. There's a lot of court hearings, there's other news, there's the investigators will talk, they'll do interviews and that's how you gather information before a trial start starts. But this is so bizarre. To have text messages this early on in an investigation where someone has not been charged nor indicted is pretty rare. So there's a bunch of text messages and it's just screenshots. So we don't see the attachment. We don't see the 16 year old son's report card. But if you see Thomas's response, it's interesting. He says, what can we do with our son? I'm glad his grades are passing, but attendance and no respect. Have you talked to him? So it seems like the notes on the report card say he has attendance issues and no respect. Respect. Chantal responds, according to his teachers, there have been no concerns about respect or behavior. His grades are good and most are close to B's. I haven't received any reports indicating an issue. Thomas responds in his report card. It says it in the notes along with his attendance and number of other things. That's why I asked. To which Chantel responds, please reread the report card. It notes that he is very respectful and there's nothing negative stated about his attendance. I've already discussed with him the importance of keeping up with his homework. So we don't know who is lying, who's misreading, who's misinterpreting. Yeah. Thomas doesn't respond for two days and then it's about an unrelated matter when he finally does. But it would appear that if anything, the 16 year old stepbrother has the physical capabilities of killing his stepsister. We just don't know if he did it. Chantal states later that the last time she personally saw Anna Kepner was the night before. She says this is around 6:30, just before 7 and quote, they were all headed back to their room as far as I know. So she's indicating that Anna, Anna's half brother and the stepbrother are heading back to their room. And here's why I think this is weird. Chantel also states that her room is across the hall from the teenager's room. She sees them all head back to the room and then she herself goes back to her room. At 7:30pm she does not go check up on the teenagers. She doesn't even give her son the medication. She just goes to sleep. And she doesn't hear any sort of screaming, any sort of tumbling noises, no chairs being thrown like the half brother reported that he heard. Even the tiktoker, her sister reported hearing screams of help. But Chantal doesn't hear hear anything. She just passes out for the night. Anna's grandparents have since come out to do their own interview where Anna's grandma says, well, we had dinner. Anna wasn't feeling well. And it seems like there was something wrong with her braces, that they were hurting. She just said, meemaw, I think I'm gonna go back to my room for a little bit. And she must have felt better because she got dressed up and she came down. We were playing in the casino. She didn't win anything. And she said, meemaw, I love you guys. I'll see you later. And we never saw her again after that. So you've got Chantel story where she's saying, I saw my son, I saw Anna and her half brother all go to the room together. And then I went to see sleep. And then we have grandma saying, oh, at the dinner, Anna left because she wasn't feeling well. And then later we saw Anna in the casino because Anna's 18, she can be in the casino and she was just hanging out. And then she left before we did. That's the last time we saw. Both of those things could be true. None of those things could be true. It's just a little bit different. So did Anna go back alone because of her braces, or did they all go back together? We don't know. And as Grandpa says the next morning after all of this, he's out there grabbing bingo cards. He's starting the morning with the bingo cards. And he hears over the loudspeakers that there's a medical emergency in the stateroom that Anna is staying in. So he starts freaking out. And the rest of the family, they already seem to know that something isn't right because they're eating breakfast. Grandpa's not at breakfast. Apparently he's getting bingo cards. Everybody at breakfast is like, where is Anna? And the half brother is like, I didn't see her when I went to sleep last night. Everyone's like, we haven't seen Anna. We haven't seen her when we woke up. The half brother's like, I didn't see her when I woke up. I thought she was already out here. So somewhere. So they start freaking out and they start searching the boat for Anna, but they don't go back to the room to search for her. So it might be because maybe the half brother had indicated he didn't see her that morning. So that makes sense to not search that. And I guess you might be more scared of other people on the boat, other strangers on the boat, like creepy older predators on the boat perhaps, than someone in the room. So they start searching this boat. I don't know where they go, but they hear the emergency intercom for the medical emergency because the room attendant had gone into that room to make. Make the bed and to clean up. And she finds Anna's body. So they all run back to the state room where the teenagers are staying and that is where Anna is found. Anna's grandma says that she just keeps screaming. She says, I couldn't stop screaming. We don't know really anything else. We don't know the exact time that Anna got back to the room last night. We don't know when Anna's half brother went back into the room. We really don't know anything.
- [63:31]
C
But if there are cameras.
- [63:32]
B
There are. And it seems like something. I imagine the kind of information will be easy for the FBI to determine and verify, but it just, it's very odd that everybody's description is like a little bit different. And again, they could all make sense and they could have all been true. Maybe we're just not getting it. Maybe it's not explained in a way where it feels as cohesive as it could be.
- [63:53]
C
And you said this, nobody has been arrested and this happened like what, weeks ago?
- [63:58]
B
November 7th? Months. Whoa. Yeah. Yeah. There are speculations as to why. Like really crazy speculations, Big theories, conspiracies I would say, which we'll get into because you'll see once I read you more text messages, it's a little weirder. And the reason that we know so much about this investigation so far, because it probably would have been just radio silence up until this point, is because of the custody hearing, the 100 plus page court filing that was done by Thomas Hudson against Chantel Hudson and the fight, fight for the nine year old girl that is right now in Chantel and Chris's care. And there's this very revealing text message inside of this entire document where Thomas Hudson last year had texted Chantel, I kept my mouth shut when you told me that you can't jeopardize your marriage for helping your son. And it seems like they're referring to the 16 year old boy, the 16 year old son.
- [64:51]
C
What could that mean?
- [64:52]
B
I don't know. Huh.
- [64:55]
C
Jeopardize?
- [64:56]
B
Nobody knows. I mean, they have these very splotchy text messages exchanges where they're talking about something very serious and then they won't talk to each other for a month and then they'll be messaging each other about something completely unrelated. Whether they have phone conversations to fill in the caps, I don't know. And that is part one of the Anna Kepner case. If you guys are listening on the audio podcast in part two, we're going to dive into all of the text messages between Chantel Kepner, the mother of the stepbrother, and her ex husband, the father of the stepbrother. They even talk about TikToks that are being posted. They talk about people who are spreading rumors and conspiracies and it's just very interesting to see their very personal thoughts in real time as this entire case develops. And there is a court hearing that we're going to get into. But stay tuned for that and let me know your thoughts. Stay safe and I will see you in the next part. Smartless Mobile here. Imagine if your phone bill was only 10 bucks a month. Well, for a lot of you, it could be. Yeah. Most of us are using way less data than we think because we're always on WI fi. People don't even realize that. So paying for an unlimited data plan, it just doesn't make sense. You know what does make sense, Jason? What's that, Will? It's the perfect 1010 from Smartless Mobile. 10 gigs for 10 bucks a month. It's pretty simple math. Unless you're Jason, that hurts. Go to smartless mobile.com for details in full terms, taxes and fees. Extra restrictions apply. Don't get outsmarted. Get Smartless Mobile.
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