Text messages sent by the family of 18-year-old Anna Kepner in the hours after her death onboard a Carnival cruise ship have been shared.
One legal expert said the messages set his 'spidey senses' tingling, and slammed the family for being more concerned about 'damage control' and 'PR' rather than the teenage cheerleader's death.
Anna was horrifyingly found stuffed under the bed in one of the cruise ship cabins, her body wrapped up in a blanket. She was reportedly found to have died from 'mechanical asphyxiation' according to her death certificate.
Anna had been sharing a cabin with two of her siblings, and she was a student at Temple Christian School who was due to graduate in May.
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Court documents revealed that one of her step-siblings, a 16-year-old boy, is a potential suspect.
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The family sent text messages in the hours after the teenager was discovered, and have been shared as part of a separate custody court case. The messages were reported to have been sent between Anna's stepmom, Shauntel Hudson-Kepner and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson.
Hudson-Kepner sent the first message at around 7.30pm on November 8, saying: "I need you to call me asap. It’s an emergency."
She said her daughter had only been told that her brother was 'having a hard time coping with losing Anna so he’s getting checked out by the hospital'.
On November 9, Hudson-Kepner texted Kepner about being able to talk to their son: "I was able to talk to him last night for under two minutes briefly he just keeps repeating over and over he can’t remember anything.
"I don’t even know if they were allowed to let me talk to him or not but the nurse was very nice and let me talk to him just to tell him that you and I love him," she added.
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'Hush, hush'
The messages indicate the family was trying to keep Hudson-Kepner's son's name out of the media and away from the public.
One text read: "OK, I know everything is supposed to be hush hush for now but I've seen that it is still getting out with post and comments between Facebook, Tiktok and stuff … I just want to make sure until things are certain that he doesn’t get an(y) unnecessary comments towards him."
They also wrote that the teen boy may be booked on charges.
Hudson-Kepner insisted: "Nobody knows anything about him. He is a minor and has been kept completely out of it we have not said anything to anybody and we are going to try out best to keep it completely out he is a minor so his name shouldn’t be anywhere and when we talk to the FBI again we will reiterate that we do not want his name out there and everything that’s been posted on TikTok and social media.
"Nobody knows anything and everybody’s just speculating, we know what I told you last night and we’ll know exactly more when the autopsy is done. Once we get the autopsy today, depending on what it says, depend on whether he’s booked on those charges."
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'PR Effort'
Jamie Copenhaver is a former sheriff's detective and investigator, and he said the messages read more like a focused PR effort.
He told FOX 35: "They did damage control, their own PR department. I’m going to say 100% they know more than what they are telling. We are going to protect you. We are going to keep you out of the light. Let’s stay off of special media."
Hudson also said he still supports his son: "I just want him to know that he isn’t just dead to everyone. Regardless of everything at the moment, he needs his parents, I know you know that. I just would like to have a chance to talk to him as soon as possible."
"We told him that yesterday, before they took him, we told him no matter what you and us are with him he isn’t alone," Hudson-Kepner replied.
Court documents revealed her death is being examined as a homicide, and the investigation continues.
Topics: Crime, Travel, Cruise ship, Police
Jen Thomas