Anna Kepner: Family claims teen, found dead under bed, not seen for 17 hours

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - In a family court hearing, Anna Kepner's stepmom said she didn't check on Anna the night before she was found dead. 

What we know:

Anna Kepner, the Florida teen who mysteriously died aboard the Carnival cruise ship, died from asphyxiation – or being deprived of oxygen – according to new court documents filed in an unrelated child custody case between Kepner's stepmom and her ex-husband.

Kepner died on Nov. 7, while onboard a family cruise on the Carnival Horizon. 

The documents also revealed that Kepner's body was found under one of the beds in the same room that Kepner and siblings apparently shared aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship.

The FBI, which is reportedly investigating Kepner's 16-year-old stepbrother as a possible suspect in her death, has not released any details on the teen's death. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner has not publicly released the results of Kepner's autopsy or toxicology report. 

Now, nearly one month after her death, Kepner's stepmother, Shauntel Hudson-Kepner spoke in front of a judge during an unrelated family court hearing about what happened that night. 

She stayed across the hall

Anna shared a cabin with two of her siblings, one of which is her stepbrother who is reportedly being investigated as a possible suspect in her death, court documents said. 

When asked if the three kids got along, Hudson responded, "Yes, the three of them were three amigos. They were best friends,"

Hudson-Kepner said a travel advisor told them to get two separate rooms for all the step siblings.

The room where Anna died was directly across the hall from where Hudson-Kepner and her husband – Anna's father, Chris – were staying. The sleeping arrangements included the grandparents having their own room, Hudson-Kepner and Chris Kepner in a room with the two youngest daughters and Anna staying in a separate room with her stepbrother and biological brother. 

Hudson-Kepner said she does not think it was wrong for the step siblings to stay together.

Not seen by family for 17 hours

Anna was not seen by her family for 17 hours on the cruise ship before she was found dead around 11 a.m., Friday, in her cabin. According to Kepner’s stepmom, the son, 16, won’t be allowed back into their home, FOX 35's Esther Bower reported. 

"With the teenagers across the hall, did you ever go in and check on them," asked an attorney to Hudson-Kepner. "No, I had went to sleep," she answered.

Hudson-Kepner’s attorney said the 16-year-old’s father also signed off on him living with a relative after he was released from the hospital when the cruise ship docked, "therefore removing any risk of any danger to any of the other children in the home." 

"That has been resolved," Hudson-Kepner’s attorney added. 

A judge ruled on Friday the minor children who were on the cruise can continue living with their mom in Titusville and are not in danger.

Others who spoke at the hearing were Thomas Hudson – the biological father of the 16-year-old under investigation by the FBI and Hudson-Kepner’s ex-husband – and their eldest son together. Anna Kepner's father, Christopher Kepner, did attend the hearing, but did not speak. 

Declining to speak about Anna

As the family walked out of the courthouse Friday, several members of the Kepner family who attended the hearing would not answer questions outside the courtroom about what happened to Anna.

What's next:

The next family court hearing in this case is set for Dec. 17. The FBI still has not released any details on their investigation and has not made an arrest. The medical examiner in Miami has not released Anna’s cause of death publicly.