NEED TO KNOW
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The FBI is investigating the death of a teen that occurred on international waters during a family vacation
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Anna Kepner, 18, of Florida, was reportedly found dead under a bed in her stateroom cabin aboard the Carnival Horizon in early November
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“She had that type of energy that just drew you in with her smile,” her relatives said after her death
Police are investigating the death of a teen whose body was found aboard a Carnival cruise ship during a family trip.
Relatives previously identified the victim as 18-year-old Anna Kepner of Titusville, Fla., in a Nov. 9 interview with ABC News. The high school cheerleader was found dead while traveling on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship from Miami to the Caribbean on Nov. 8.
A housekeeper found Kepner’s body under the bed in her stateroom, CBS News reported on Tuesday, Nov. 18, citing law enforcement sources.
Anna Kepner/Instagram
Anna Kepner
“The death of a guest traveling on the Carnival Horizon voyage that returned to PortMiami on Saturday morning, Nov. 8, is being investigated,” a Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson told PEOPLE on Nov. 10, adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating the death.
“Since this is an ongoing matter under the jurisdiction of law enforcement, it is up to the FBI’s Miami public affairs office to provide further details. Our focus is on supporting the family of our guest,” the statement said.
The Miami-Dade Police Department and the FBI’s Miami Division did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Kepner had been traveling in the Caribbean with her dad, his wife and three of Kepner’s stepsiblings when she was discovered dead on the Carnival cruise ship while it was en route back to Miami, where it docked on Nov. 8, CBS News reported.
Her family said the high schooler told them the night before she died that she was not feeling well, so she went back to her room, per the outlet.
Speaking to ABC News after her death, the teen’s loved ones said Kepner “was a people person. She loved being around people. She had that type of energy that just drew you in with her smile.”
The teen had plans to join the military once she graduated in May and had already done the necessary testing.
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“She was already talking to recruiters and had chosen her career path. She wanted to do something that would help her community,” her family told ABC News.
The investigation remains ongoing, as law enforcement and the FBI check surveillance video, electronic swipe card data and interview others who were on the ship during the time of Kepner’s family trip, CBS News reported.
Read the original article on People
