The mother of 18-year-old Anna Kepner — the Florida teen found dead on a Carnival cruise — says she learned about her daughter’s death through a Google search, not from family or authorities, after the tragedy made headlines online.
Heather Wright, who lives in Oklahoma, said her estranged ex-husband never contacted her after Anna died, despite the severity of the situation. Their rocky relationship, she claims, is what kept him from notifying her. “My ex-husband did not try to contact me at all whatsoever to let me know that my daughter died,” she told NewsNation on Friday, shortly after reports revealed Anna had been killed by strangulation.
Wright said the first hint she received that something was wrong came from a friend, who told her young son that his sister had been murdered on a cruise ship. Panicked, she tried calling Anna’s phone and even attempted to reach her through TikTok, but heard nothing. Desperate for answers, she searched online.
“Then I Googled ‘18-year-old died on cruise ship,’ and that’s when my daughter’s face popped up all over Google,” she recalled.
Wright also claims law enforcement never contacted her — not even weeks after Anna’s Nov. 7 death — leaving her to piece together the details on her own. Anna, a high school senior and cheerleader, had been found dead in the cruise cabin she shared with her two stepbrothers.
Her relationship with Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, has long been strained. Wright says he kept her away from their daughter’s memorial service earlier this week, insisting Anna “would not want” her there. Wright said she snuck in anyway, disguising herself with a wig and tall heels to avoid being recognized. “Nobody spotted me,” she said, describing how she stayed near the back in case she needed to leave quickly.
Wright admitted she and Anna barely communicated, only speaking on birthdays and holidays because of longstanding conflicts with Kepner’s father, which included a recent screaming match between the adults. “He made it extremely difficult for me to even have a relationship with my daughter,” she said.
The family turmoil was so deep that Wright didn’t even know about the 16-year-old stepbrother now under investigation in connection with Anna’s death. No suspects have been officially named, but the teen reportedly had an unhealthy fixation on Anna. An ex-boyfriend claimed the stepbrother once climbed on top of her while she was asleep, and the pair had a confrontation just hours before she died.
Anna’s body was discovered wrapped in a blanket, hidden under a bed, and covered with life jackets. A source close to the investigation told ABC News that she died from asphyxiation caused by a “bar hold,” with two bruises found on the side of her neck.
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