Nearly three months after 18-year-old Anna Kepner was found dead on a family vacation aboard the Carnival Horizon, a 16-year-old identified in court records as a person of interest quietly appeared before a federal magistrate in Miami. The Feb. 6 hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida was closed to the public because the teen is a juvenile, and the case remains very much alive as federal authorities continue to gather evidence.
Closed-door hearing at Miami federal courthouse
The teen was brought into the downtown Miami courthouse by U.S. Marshals and taken into a locked courtroom alongside a federal public defender. The public docket lists only a sealed juvenile matter on the magistrate’s calendar, with no visible charging documents. Afterward, local cameras captured the minor walking to the courthouse probation office, where defendants are processed for pretrial release, then leaving the building with his father and attorney, according to Court TV.
Cause of death and FBI probe
Officials have largely kept operational details under wraps, but medical records and media reporting state that Kepner was discovered under a bed on Nov. 7 and that her death was later ruled a homicide. The death certificate lists mechanical asphyxia as the cause, possibly involving what has been described as a “bar hold.” Carnival Cruise Line has said it is cooperating with law enforcement. Because the Carnival Horizon was at sea when Kepner died, federal agents took the lead on the investigation, according to the Miami Herald and other outlets.
Family filings name stepbrother as a suspect
The case might have stayed almost entirely in the shadows if not for a divorce and custody dispute in Brevard County, Florida. In those family-court filings, the 16-year-old was described as a suspect, and the parents asked judges to slow the civil proceedings because of the federal criminal probe. Reporters who reviewed the documents say they are the first public records to directly connect the minor to the FBI’s investigation into Kepner’s death, according to The Washington Post.
After the hearing
Following the closed appearance in front of the magistrate, the teen was seen inside the courthouse probation office, where pretrial release matters are handled, then leaving the building with his father and federal public defender. Those movements were documented in local coverage and images reviewed by People and NBC 6. Federal officials declined to comment on what was discussed in the sealed hearing, and the public docket offers almost no clues about what, if anything, has been formally filed under seal.
Because the case involves a juvenile in federal court, nearly all proceedings are shielded from public view. Any decision to bring formal, public charges would come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Reporting indicates that the docket remains sealed while investigators review evidence and decide whether to move forward with charges in the coming days or weeks. For broader context, national outlets in the USA TODAY Network have outlined how the case has unfolded so far.
Why the FBI is involved…