NEED TO KNOW
- The Carnival Horizon cruise ship, where the body of 18-year-old Anna Kepner was found, has a new mission
- On Sunday, Dec. 14, the company announced plans to deliver 24 pallets of hurricane relief items to Ocho Rios, Jamaica
- Hurricane Melissa, which struck the island in October, was the costliest storm in recorded history for the country, according to a study from the World Bank
More than a month after 18-year-old Anna Kepner was found dead on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship, the vessel is embarking on a new mission to deliver hurricane relief to Jamaica.
On Sunday, Dec. 14, the company announced it would be loading 24 pallets of critically needed supplies, like hygiene kits, medical items and other essential goods onto its Caribbean-sailing vessel. The philanthropic effort, in collaboration with Direct Relief, the Miami HEAT and the Micky & Madeleine Arison Family Foundation, is set to deliver the five tons of goods to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, when it arrives later this week. The ship will also be carrying its normal load: sun-seeking vacationers.
Carnival Cruise Line
“This partnership demonstrates the strength of coming together to help those in need,” president of Carnival Cruise Line Christine Duffy said in a press release.
“The devastation of Hurricane Melissa was incredible and will be felt in Jamaica for years to come,” Eric Woolworth, president of business operations for the Miami HEAT added. “Along with Direct Relief and Carnival, it’s our hope that the supplies we send will help start the road to recovery.”
A Nov. 19 study from the World Bank estimated that Jamaica’s total damage from Hurricane Melissa cost $8.8 billion, making it the costliest storm in the country’s recorded history. That figure is equal to about 41% of Jamaica’s total GDP in 2024.
Carnival Cruise Line
The shipment joins a larger effort led by Direct Relief which airlifted 120 pallets of supplies to Jamaica on Dec. 13. The combined total reaches 144 pallets, weighing 68 tons.
According to CruiseMapper, the ship is set to arrive in Ocho Rios on Thursday, Dec. 18.
Carnival’s Horizon cruise ship has made headlines in recent months as the location of Anna Kepner’s death, which was officially ruled a homicide on Nov 24.
On Nov. 2, the Florida teen boarded the ship for a voyage from Miami to the Caribbean with her blended family, which included her father, stepmother, two siblings, two stepsiblings and grandparents.
Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty; Anna Kepner/Instagram
On Nov. 7, a member of Carnival’s housekeeping staff found Anna’s body in her stateroom. Her aunt, Krystal Wright, told Fox News she was discovered wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets underneath her bed. The ship returned to PortMiami the next day, per Fox 35 Orlando.
On Nov. 9, a spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that the FBI was investigating the death of a passenger on board the ship.
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On Dec. 5, during a custody hearing between Anna’s stepmother Shauntel Hudson and her ex-husband Thomas Hudson, a judge referred to the the teen’s 16-year-old stepbrother as “a suspect” in her killing.
Authorities have not publicly named a suspect in the case, but the stepbrother became the subject of a criminal investigation soon after her death, according to court records in the custody issue previously obtained by PEOPLE.
During the hearing, Shauntel’s lawyer said that Shauntel and her husband (and Anna’s father), Christopher Kepner, sent the stepbrother away to live with relatives with the intention of “removing any risk of any danger to any of the other children in the home.”
The investigation is ongoing.
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