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Anna Kepner’s cellphone emerged as a key piece of circumstantial evidence as federal investigators zeroed in on her stepbrother, Timothy Hudson, in the Florida 18-year-old’s murder investigation.
Kepner was found dead Nov. 7, 2025, in cabin 8343 aboard the Carnival Horizon, which she shared with Hudson, then 16, and a 13-year-old relative. Hudson faces charges for her alleged sexual assault and murder.
Prosecutors said surveillance video did not show her leaving the cabin after she returned there the previous evening.
Investigators later searched the cabin but could not find Kepner’s phone. According to a recently released federal transcript, family members told the FBI that the Florida 18-year-old was “never without” it.
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Cruise ship personnel also said they had not taken it or seen it in the room, prosecutors said. Investigators later found the phone in the ship’s lost and found.
According to the transcript, a crew member had recovered it from a trash bin near the rear of the ship, on the starboard side. Prosecutors said the phone appeared to have been seriously damaged, with a broken screen.
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The government said investigators then reviewed surveillance video and ship Wi-Fi records to determine how the phone may have moved from the cabin to the trash bin.
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Prosecutors said the ship’s wireless network kept records showing when devices connected to routers in different areas of the ship.
They said those records placed Kepner’s phone along a route that corresponded with her stepbrother’s movements on the morning of Nov. 7.
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According to the transcript, Hudson left cabin 8343 at about 9:26 a.m. At the exact same time, prosecutors said, Kepner’s phone began connecting to routers along the same general path Hudson took through the ship.
At about 9:29 a.m., the phone connected near deck 10 in the Lido Marketplace area onboard the Carnival Cruise ship.
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At about 9:34 a.m., it connected near a smoking area on deck 11, where Hudson was seen smoking.
At about 9:39 a.m., it connected near deck 12, where surveillance showed Hudson walking on the jogging track.
Hudson, the transcript revealed, returned to the cabin at about 9:48 a.m.
At about 9:50 a.m., he left again. Prosecutors said video showed him holding something in his left hand and appearing to reach into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. He then walked toward the rear of the ship.
At about 9:52 a.m., surveillance showed him near the area of the trash bin where the phone was later found. Prosecutors acknowledged the trash bin itself was not directly visible on the video, but said Hudson remained in the area for about 22 seconds before returning to the cabin.
The government said the phone’s router data placed it near the trash-bin area at about 9:55 a.m., while Hudson had returned to cabin 8343.
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Prosecutors argued that sequence showed Hudson had taken Kepner’s phone from the cabin and discarded it.
Defense attorney Eric Cohen challenged the strength of the prosecution’s deduction during cross-examination of FBI Special Agent Andrew Delvalle.
Cohen said that Hudson had been on an upper deck and asked whether he could have thrown the phone into the water. Delvalle agreed he could have but said he did not.
Cohen also asked whether the router data showed only that the phone’s path was “somewhat similar” to Hudson’s route. Delvalle agreed.
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Prosecutors said search warrants were obtained for Hudson and Kepner’s phones.
According to the government, the phones did not reveal information about Kepner’s killing or about the relationship between Kepner and Hudson.
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The phone evidence was one part of the government’s broader probable cause argument, along with the cabin timeline, medical evidence and DNA evidence.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres found probable cause, citing the circumstantial evidence, including the movements of people in and out of the cabin, evidence of sexual contact and the movement of Kepner’s phone when she was not with it.
But Torres also said the weight of the evidence was “a much closer call.” If convicted, Hudson could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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Hudson’s case is expected to go to trial in September. Fox News Digital has reached out to Hudson’s attorneys for comment.
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