SERIALously - 340: Family of Anna Kepner Speaks Out as Stepbrother Is Named Suspect in Cruise Death

Starting point is 00:00:00 Think about your health for a second. Are your eyes the first thing that come to mind? Probably not. But our eyes go through a lot. From squinting at screens to driving at night. That's why regular eye exams matter. And at Specsavers, they come with an OCT 3D eye health scan, which helps optometrists detect conditions at early stages.

Starting point is 00:00:18 We believe OCT scans are so important they're included with every standard eye exam. Book an eye exam at Spexsavers.cavers.ca.caps are provided by independent optometrists. Visit Spexsavers.com to learn more. Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of serialously. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialously. with me, your host, Annie Elise. And this last week has been, honestly, like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, there has been so much going on. Not even just so many new cases, which is like disturbing and unsettling in and of itself, but a lot of updates to cases that either happened a long time ago

Starting point is 00:01:20 and we're finally getting updates or like these crazy breaking news updates in cases that I know so many of us have been following. So I'm going to, as a normal, As normally, I don't think that's a word. As usual, I'm going to start with the updates to some cases that we've already been discussing together. And then we're going to get into the new cases. Now, before I jump into all of that, I do want to let you guys know. We are officially on sale for Black Friday. All of our merch, we have like slashed the prices. There is not a lot left. But you can go to Annieelise.com, grab any holiday merch and feel good about doing it because a portion of all of the proceeds. go directly to the Child Rescue Coalition, which you know we partner with and we support everything that they're doing. So that is a piece of it. Also, if you've been on the fence about joining Patreon, we are also including that in the Black Friday sale. So you can join now for the lowest price point we have ever offered. And you can get access to all of our episodes, ad-free videos, ad-free extra bonus videos, our 24-7 group chat, giveaways, all sorts of different,

Starting point is 00:02:29 like special things within there. And so all of this is going to go through Monday. So go now, Annieelis.com for the merch or patreon.com slash Annie Elise to join Patreon. Now let's talk about these updates. First, I want to start with Melody Buzzard. And I can just feel that a deep dive is going to be on the horizon here once more information comes out about her mom. Because there has been so much back and forth with this for weeks now. But if you remember, Melody is the girl who went missing. And I should say went missing, or I say went missing, but more like she was never reported as missing. And then when the school came and did the wellness check, her mom was refusing to cooperate. She wouldn't share where Melody was. They had just gone on that cross-country

Starting point is 00:03:16 road trip together. And things just weren't adding up. Then Melody's mom, Ashley, ended up being arrested for false imprisonment charges relating to somebody else. And so I think that kind of gave everybody a little bit of a sigh of relief. Like, she's been arrested. Now we'll figure out what happened to Melody. She's obviously going to talk. We're going to learn more. This is just something to formally get her locked up.

Starting point is 00:03:39 That, unfortunately, was not the case. So like I said, on November 7th, she had been arrested on false imprisonment charges, but completely unrelated to the disappearance of her daughter, Melody. But according to People magazine, the felony charge was dropped on Thursday, November 20th. This was after an audio recording captured by Ashley was played in court, and it seemingly disproved the claims of false imprisonment. In the audio, Ashley opened the door and allowed this person to leave her home. There was also no mention of a specific location in the audio, so we don't know what the details were of that. Again, I think that maybe, I don't know the details of that, actually, so I don't want to speak on me.

Starting point is 00:04:20 that. But I think that the thought and hope in arresting her and holding her on those charges was that she would fold and share what happened to her daughter, but she still hasn't. Meanwhile, we are hearing from a lot of family members that she was cutting the face out of missing persons posters of her own daughter, that she's refusing, of course, to cooperate. We still don't know where melody is, what happened. But my point earlier being, I think that that information it's going to come out sooner rather than later. And so I think we are on the verge of a deep dive revisiting this case and going through not only everything regarding the case, but Ashley, her mom as well, because there's a lot of backstory, which I have found out about that I haven't

Starting point is 00:05:06 even touched on, that I think we'll include in that just to give a full picture of everything. So more to come on that, but did want to at least mention that update. And now we've got to talk about the David of it all, the D4VD David, because that's something that we have been talking about for months now. As a quick little one-note reminder, David is a singer. Celeste was a 15-year-old little girl who, I believe, was murdered when she was just 14 years old, and she was found in the trunk of his Tesla. And it's been really interesting. For the last several weeks, there's been back and forth, is David a suspect? Is he not? They don't even have a cause of death. He can't be named a suspect. His weird lyrics about like romantic homicide come out. There's all these things that

Starting point is 00:05:50 make it look on the surface, like David is somehow involved in this, but he was never formally named a suspect, never arrested, never charged with anything. Well, big shocker to absolutely nobody in the freaking world, he now has officially been named a suspect in the desk of Celeste. And investigators also say, he is not the only suspect. Digital evidence from phones, social media, and even data that was pulled from the Tesla, has also placed a second individual at the location where they believe Celeste died. Now, one major point of interest, too, for the detectives is a very mysterious middle-of-the-night road trip to Santa Barbara last spring. Now, if you remember from my last update, the last known photos of Celeste were from February,

Starting point is 00:06:38 end of January, early February. They then found her body in the very end, tail end of summertime. So the fact that there is this middle of the night road trip last spring, that could either be when something happened or a potential attempted disposal, something. But they are saying that this is a major point of interest for the detectives. So they're now zeroing in on the timeline to figure out who went on this road trip, why they went, what role in it may have played in Celeste's disappearance, all of it. Now, the condition of Celeste's body is also something that we need to talk about because it has been a big point of contention in this investigation as to why nobody was named a suspect and still why nobody has been charged. And it's unfortunately,

Starting point is 00:07:24 I'm sorry to get a little bit graphic here, but it's because the state in which her remains were found. They were unable to determine not only a cause of death, but also a manner of death because of how badly decomposed her body was. So despite all of this and still not knowing the clear cause of death, the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division has officially reclassified the case as a homicide. And now, with at least two suspects who are now clearly coming into focus, the investigators believe that there are still major pieces of this story that have yet come to light and that they expect to come to light soon and start to put the entire puzzle together. So we will be following this very closely.

Starting point is 00:08:05 Also, we'll probably have a deep dive on this in the near future. So stay tuned. Now, in another throwback case that had a huge update over the weekend that I talked about a little bit on social media, but want to talk about it here, Morgan Geyser, the primary attacker back in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing. You may remember her. She was briefly on the run this weekend after she cut off her ankle monitoring bracelet and disappeared from a group home where she had been living. Now, as a reminder for those who aren't familiar with this case, it's haunting and so, so disturbing. But back in 2014, Morgan and her friend Anisa lured their friend and classmate Peyton into the woods. Once they had Peyton in the woods, and by the way, they were all 12 years old at the time, just 12. Once they had Peyton in the woods, Morgan stabbed her 19 times while Anisa was like egging her on. Luckily, Peyton survived this attack, and she was able to crawl out of the woods and get to safety, although she had to spend a lot of time in the hospital recovering.

Starting point is 00:09:07 But once Morgan and Anisa were apprehended. their explanation to the investigators was that this attack was all in an effort to appease Slender Man, the fictional horror character that they were apparently convinced was real. They thought that by doing this sacrifice

Starting point is 00:09:24 and this killing for him, they would get to live in his castle. That's where they were actually walking at the time that they were arrested or, I should say, apprehended on the side of the road. They thought that it would help save their families, fully believing that this fictional character was real, according

Starting point is 00:09:40 to them, whether or not they truly believed it, who the hell really knows. But again, all three girls were only 12 years old at the time. So at the trial, I believe Morgan pled guilty to either intentional attempted first degree or second degree homicide. However, she was found not guilty by mental defect. And instead of going to prison, she was sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric facility. However, then her team started appealing everything, saying that she should be released and have early release and supervised release, which a lot of people had objections to, because not only was this crime outright evil and so evil at just 12 years old, but even during the time when she has been in this care facility, she has been making very disturbing

Starting point is 00:10:23 drawings, she has been in touch with somebody who collects like murder memorabilia, a lot of red flags. But despite all of that, the judge agreed to this. So earlier this year, Morgan was released from the psychiatric care facility, and she was placed in a supervised group home. However, on Saturday, November 22nd, she reportedly just walked out of this home in Wisconsin and removed her ankle monitoring bracelet and took off with a 42-year-old friend,

Starting point is 00:10:51 which Morgan at this point is 22 years old. Who this 42-year-old friend is? I've done a little bit of research on. That information, don't worry, is coming. But when they took off, they went to Illinois. Then the police responded to reports of two people who were sleeping on a sidewalk behind a truck stop, this being Morgan and her friend.

Starting point is 00:11:13 Initially, apparently Morgan refused to give her name and told them, I've done something really bad, you can Google me and figure out who I am and was not cooperating. The 42-year-old friend also was not cooperating and later was arrested on obstruction charges. But once Morgan revealed her identity, the police confirmed that she was the missing escapee

Starting point is 00:11:33 and they took her into custody. Now what's to come with all of this? I don't really know I apparently the police told her 42 year old friend at the scene that she would now have to go back to the psychiatric care facility but in my mind I'm like

Starting point is 00:11:48 if she just escaped and cut off her bracelet she should now be going to prison she shouldn't get to go back to that care facility but I know it gets very complicated when mental health is involved that being said we have done a deep dive on this case in the past but we are currently doing a deep dive

Starting point is 00:12:03 into everything about Morgan at the facility, the drawings, the conversations with that the murder memorabilio guy, her new friend, what that all was like. So the updated deep dive is coming. Just stay tuned. But I think it's going to be out, you know, Tuesday. So there you go. I'll keep you posted on that. And we'll see what happens with Morgan and what repercussion she's going to have to face now. But a lot of people were obviously outraged when they saw that she had fled, rightfully so. I think this was everybody's concern when her team was trying to get her early release. She only ended up serving, what was it, I think nine years, maybe less in the psychiatric care facility, originally sentenced to 40 years and not even prison time.

Starting point is 00:12:48 I mean, the whole thing is just an epic fail, in my opinion. So keeping a close eye on this and definitely will keep you updated. Okay, so now we're going to get into some of these new cases. And one of these cases, I swear it has taken the internet by storm. Everybody is following it. I've seen your DMs, your comments, everything, and it's a wild one. I admittedly have not been able to follow it as in depth as I would like to. However, Amy, who is here joining me again today, has been all over this case. And so she actually, yeah, she's been all over this case. She knows every single detail. So I'm excited that Amy is here to explain to all of us what is actually going on with the Anna Kempner case.

Starting point is 00:13:31 I know you hate cruises as it is. This probably is one more reason to hate a cruise, but... Honestly, and we just got the invitation to crime cruise. Not happening. Not happening. Not happening. I'm like, wait a second. No, no, thank you.

Starting point is 00:13:42 Well, happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you. I can't believe it's already almost Christmas. Honestly. I mean, like I said last week, it's felt like Christmas for a while now. It is. I know. Emmy still is asking me every day if it's Christmas, but it's fine.

Starting point is 00:13:54 Okay, yeah. So as Annie said, this next case was one that I saw, first come up on social media and just piqued my interest. And I sent it over to the team and was like, I don't even know if there's enough information yet, but let's keep our eyes on this one. But now it's one that's everywhere lately. And the more you look at it, it just becomes more and more unsettling. So as Annie said, I'm not really a cruise person. So for me, this is even extra scary. But imagine this. You're on a cruise ship. You're in the middle of the ocean. There's thousands of people around you. security everywhere. There's cameras. And really, it's the kind of environment where you would

Starting point is 00:14:31 normally feel super safe because realistically, where could even go? You're surrounded by water. But then someone vanishes and they don't fall overboard. They don't get left somewhere. They just disappear inside the ship itself inside a tiny cabin, which is honestly kind of giving Amy Bradley's missing vibes. But in this case, when they were finally found, they were not okay. They were not alive. They had been hidden under a bed, wrapped in a blanket, and covered by life jackets. And that was the scene that investigators walked into on the Carnival Horizon on November 8th, just a few weeks ago. And at the center of the scene was an 18-year-old girl named Anna Kempner. She was from Titusville, Florida, attended Temple Christian High School and was expected to graduate just this next May.

Starting point is 00:15:19 She had plans to join the Navy, and now that dream of her just wasn't going to come true, because All of that came to a screeching halt on this cruise. And this wasn't just a solo trip. This was supposed to be this happy, blended family vacation. In fact, it was supposed to be a nice little getaway for everyone and possibly something they wanted to make a family tradition going forward. So Anna was on the cruise ship with her grandparents, her father, her stepmother, and all of her siblings and step-siblings.

Starting point is 00:15:48 They had had three staterooms booked on the carnival horizon that left from Miami and was traveling the Caribbean for seven days. And by her grandparents' account, the whole family was very close, and there was really no such thing as step-s siblings. They were all just very close and had, I think, what they later described as two peas-in-a-pod type dynamic. And Anna wasn't staying in the cabin alone. The three teenagers had decided to stay together. As I said earlier, they had only booked those three estate rooms, so she was sharing a room with her 16-year-old step-brother and another teenage sibling. and their grandparents had said that at any time if they weren't getting along or if they wanted to stay apart from each other,

Starting point is 00:16:28 that there was an extra room in their room that they were welcome to. Now, it's not clear where the third sibling was staying in the night that Anna was killed, but we do know that her stepbrother was still staying in their room and that only the family had access to that room, nobody else. So when you hear that detail, the story shifts quite a bit because when something happens in a locked and enclosed space that only a few people had access to, the circle of possible answers gets very small, very fast.

Starting point is 00:16:57 And the last night, Anna was seen by her grandparents. She had said that she reportedly wasn't feeling well. At first, she was complaining of pain from her braces, then she wasn't feeling well. So she went back to her room, but then reportedly started feeling better because she came down at the casino, she was interacting with the family,

Starting point is 00:17:13 kind of was bouncing around, checking in and out, and nothing really seemed off. until the next morning her grandfather, Jeffrey, was buying bingo cards and heard this medical alert come over the loudspeaker, recognizing the room number and panicked. So he raced to the cabin where he was met by Anna's father, who had confirmed she was in fact deceased. Apparently, a room attendant had found Anna's body, quote, concealed under a blanket. Now, this happened in international waters, and when things happened in the middle of the ocean, everything becomes more complicated. Local police don't just step in. Federal agencies become involved. And so the jurisdiction

Starting point is 00:17:52 gets kind of messy and the investigation sometimes gets a bit delayed because evidence is harder to access. Surveillance and key card data needs to be preserved and everything just reviewed very, very carefully. So suddenly what kind of seemed like maybe a straightforward investigation became more slow and more serious. And really there were no updates until now. Once the FBI in Miami got involved, more and more details started coming out, which is kind of what we saw this week. And not only did the case become more complicated, but it also was a lot more uncomfortable. Because according to multiple reports and court-related filings, Anna's stepbrother, the same one sharing the cabin with her, became someone investigators were paying very close

Starting point is 00:18:35 attention to. Reports say that Anna's younger brother told her ex-boyfriend that he heard yelling and chairs being thrown in the room the night before she was found. He said that their stepbrother was yelling, quote, shut the hell up and stuff like that. The ex-boyfriend also told reporters that Anna had been sexually harassed by her stepbrother in the past, but she had always kept quiet because she feared for her safety. He said that Anna, quote, didn't feel safe around her stepbrother. And then another detail surfaced. And last week, reports came out that investigators believed Anna died due to affixiation involving pressure to her neck, possibly from a bar hold. She had bruises on her neck and everything indicated that she had been held in that position with pressure on her neck until she couldn't breathe anymore.

Starting point is 00:19:19 So that alone changed the tone of the case because now they could definitely classify this one as a murder. Their grandmother had stated in her interview that the stepson was, quote, an emotional mess. He couldn't even speak. He couldn't believe what had happened. And get this, shortly after the ship docked, reports said that the stepbrother was officially being looked at as a suspect. Not only that, but he was also hospitalized, and yet there hasn't been any clear public explanation as to why. But that silence has fueled a lot of speculation. But to be very clear, there have been no criminal charges that have been publicly confirmed. But this all has been enough to raise some serious questions, obviously.

Starting point is 00:19:59 If it was the stepbrother that did this, was he injured? Did he have some sort of psychological break? Was that the reason for why he was acting that way shortly after? or was this something else? Now that his names connected to the case, the speculation just has become very dark. Another question that keeps coming up, when something happened in that cabin,

Starting point is 00:20:19 did it start as a planned attack? Many people believe it may have started as something smaller, maybe an argument, a confrontation, a moment that spiraled, but others have said there may have been some kind of fixation or obsession that the stepbrother had,

Starting point is 00:20:32 which kind of goes along with what the ex-boyfriend said, and that maybe he planned to do this, that he knew they would be alone in the room, and that it was a perfect opportunity to carry out this horrifying act. But again, I mean, there's no proof of that. But the fact that people are even asking those questions shows just how unsettling this is. And Anna's family is absolutely devastated. Her father, Christopher, has said that he hasn't even been given any clear answers from the investigators.

Starting point is 00:20:58 He's basically been left in the dark about the entire situation. But get this. While there's been tons of speculation about the stepbrother, there's now also been talk about her father. But again, this is all just speculation, but there have been claims that he has a troubling past, including an inappropriate relationship with their 15-year-old babysitter in the mid-2000s. So once this came out, naturally the question started stacking up against Christopher too. There are people out there who believe that he may know more about what he's admitting to or may be involved in some sort of a cover-up or may have even had a role in Anna's death himself. And maybe that's potentially why he's not getting much information from the FBI. And now Anna's grandparents are speaking out, telling everything they know just to make things more clear.

Starting point is 00:21:45 According to them, the stepbrother was the only person seen entering and exiting the cabin that night Anna died. So the assumption would be that he did do something to her. They also said that Anna and her stepbrother had a great relationship by all appearances, kind of going back to what I said earlier, two peas in a pod. So nobody would expect him, or really anyone, to do something to such a bright and kind person like Anna. Do you think he had anything to do with Anna's death? I mean, he was in a room with her. He was the only one seen coming and going.

Starting point is 00:22:17 So I can't accuse him because I don't know what happened in that room. But the summation would be that he did something. And has he said anything to you about what happened? I heard him, in his own words, say he does not remember what happened. And his grandmother says she sat in on a portion of the stepbrother's interview with the FBI. He was an emotional mess. He couldn't even speak. He couldn't believe what had happened.

Starting point is 00:22:47 And his grandparents say she and her stepbrother were close. They were just like brother and sister. What else could you tell me about him? That he was a good student. Played soccer? He played soccer, very quiet young man. He had demons, I think, in his past. And he was trying to deal with those.

Starting point is 00:23:07 And his stepbrother has not been arrested or charged with the crime. Attorneys for both the stepbrother's parents did not respond to ABC's request for comment. The FBI and medical examiner's office also declined to comment. So I know that's a lot. We're still getting the information as it comes in. And I would imagine that we're going to follow this one closely and potentially even do a deep dive on this one in the future. It's interesting too. And I think you're right.

Starting point is 00:23:33 I think we will do a deep dive on this. I don't know, again, all of the nuances, but from the things that I have seen, there's also a pretty interesting and alarming history with her mom. And I saw something where her mom was like wearing a disguise to something. I think it was like a court appearance or something like that. To me, when I first heard about this, especially the bar hold against her and the, I don't want to say outcries, but her boyfriend saying that she had had past situations with her stepbrother where he was like fixated on her and obsessed. I was like, oh, this must have been a sexual assault that went too far.

Starting point is 00:24:10 But from everything I've seen, there was no indication that any sort of sexual activity took place that night. And so I don't know if it was like an attempt or not or if it was like to your point, something that just started to spiral. But like there is a lot more, I think, that goes into this between the dad, the mom, the stepbrother to where I feel like we definitely will need to do a deep dive. When I also thought, like, I'm thinking Carnival crews, everyone is highly intoxicated, but there was no evidence of that either.

Starting point is 00:24:37 So I was, yeah, I was kind of thinking that too. And just by his reaction when he got off the ship and just after it happened and being just so worked up over it and visibly upset, for me, it doesn't sound like it was a planned attack. But, I mean, obviously, we'll find out. And she kept going back and forth to the room saying she wasn't feeling well. There was even a report that her braces were painful that night. and so she had kind of been excusing herself. So I'm not sure if necessarily, like, it could have been a planned attack versus just maybe an opportunity came up.

Starting point is 00:25:08 I don't know. I mean, it'll be interesting, too, if they do a talks report on her, which I would imagine they would. And if they haven't, if that hasn't already come back at the time of this recording, I will say, even though Carnival Cruises are required 21 and older to drink, it is so easy to get to not only drink on board, but to bring booze on board. I'd have done one Carnival Cruise in my life. I was 21 years old at the time, but you can bring, they allow you a certain amount of like sodas or like liters of soda. And so we, honestly, I know. And it's so embarrassing.

Starting point is 00:25:41 My loser ex-boyfriend, like watch this whole YouTube video of how you can get the cap off through like, I think it's like boiling water and then you can reseal it. So like we filled one with vodka sprite in a seven up bottle. And like I think we had like four of those between like our friends. And like it would be just because we were. cheap and didn't want to buy booze on the cruise. So it's like, it's not unthinkable to think not only that they could have had access potentially to alcohol while on the ship, but how it could have brought stuff in, too. So I think the talks report will answer that. Yeah. Oh, I mean, it's so sad.

Starting point is 00:26:19 You know what I've noticed? The second that the weather starts shifting, my skin is the first one to start panicking. It's like the fall hits, the air gets cooler and drier, and suddenly my usual summertime routine is not cutting it at all. And I recently tried dime beauty. And I feel like I'm starting to enter my dime era because their products are clean, effective, and honestly just make my skin feel happy. Plus, there's no harsh ingredients, which you guys know, I avoid like the plague. And since we're now heading into these colder months, hydration is obviously everything. Their hyleronic acid serum has been one of my newest go-toes. It's super lightweight. but the hydration in it is next level.

Starting point is 00:26:57 I use it at night, and my skin just kind of like drinks it in, like a big cold glass of water. Then I've tried layering on their TBT cream on top of it, which is their clean retinol alternative. And so it's moisturizing without being greasy, but it gives that really like smooth, bouncy skin. So I don't know. If I stick with it, I feel like future me is going to be very thankful. Also, if you've seen their fragrances all over TikTok, because yes, it is that good, it's going viral. It's like wood, warmsy, super cozy. It basically smells like fall in a bottle. It's called Don's Less Boys, I think is how you pronounce it. But the best part of all of it is that every

Starting point is 00:27:32 single dime product is vegan, cruelty-free, and made with full transparency. No weird toxins, no shady ingredients, just formulas that actually work. Head to dimebeauty.com and new customers can get 30% off your first order with code Cyber Month. But the offer ends December 16th. That's dimebeauty.com Cyber Month for 30% off. You can also shop Dime on Amazon and Ulta. Your fall routine will thank you. If you're looking for a simple way to support your overall wellness, IM8's daily ultimate essentials makes it easy. It combines the benefits of 16 different supplements into one daily drink, and it was co-founded by David Beckham, with insights too from experts at the Mayo Clinic, Cedar Sinai, and a former NASA chief scientist. IMA is packed with 92 nutrient-wrench ingredients, vitamins, minerals, adaptogens, MSM, pre-pro, postbiotics, everything to support energy, digestion, and overall health from the inside out. And what really stands out is how they balance clean ingredients with research-backed effectiveness.

Starting point is 00:28:37 It's vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and NSF certified, meaning that everything is third-party tested for purity. In clinical trials, 95% of participants felt more energetic and 85% reported improved digestion with less bloating. So start feeling your best self every day with IM8. Go to IM8health.com slash A.E and use code A.E for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's IAM8health.com slash AE code AE. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to. to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Okay, so this next case is coming out of Kansas City, Kansas, and the details are still unfolding,

Starting point is 00:29:29 but what we know now, so far, it is pretty disturbing. In the early morning hours of November 1st, police were called to a home after neighbors had reported gunfire. Now, when the officers arrived, they found 20-year-old Anna Juarez on the front porch. She had been shot in the lower back. She was rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately, she did not survive. And very quickly, the investigators realized that this was not random at all. According to court documents, Anna had been in a relationship with a man named Kevin Kalamako Morales.

Starting point is 00:30:00 And in the minutes, minutes leading up to the shooting, her phone tells a very intense story. The investigators say that she received 18 phone calls in just two minutes, all three. from a phone number that was tied back to Kevin, which 18 calls in two minutes. I don't even know how that's physically possible. It's like unhinged, but let's continue. So after some investigation, surveillance cameras in the area showed a vehicle pulling up to the home just before the shots were fired. Then this vehicle left shortly after. Shell casings were also found and bullet damage was visible on the home. And then what started to emerge was a timeline that felt deeply, deeply personal.

Starting point is 00:30:42 According to reports, one witness was heard telling the police at the scene, quote, it must have been her crazy boyfriend. Then they started going through her messages. Investigators say that Kevin allegedly sent Anna multiple messages

Starting point is 00:30:56 after the shooting, including one that read, quote, you dead ass, which kind of means like, are you for real, but that's like new hipster, not even hipster, but I guess you could say Gen Z language.

Starting point is 00:31:07 But those words are what was reportedly directly in these court documents too. So, yeah, he said, you dead-ass question mark. Now, friends of hers also spoke with investigators. And according to the affidavit, she had told people close to her that Kevin was super controlling.

Starting point is 00:31:21 Also, that he always wanted to know where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, so much so that if he didn't know where she was going or if he didn't like where she was going or who she was going to be with, then he wouldn't let her go. So all of this painted a very clear picture

Starting point is 00:31:37 of what happened. and eventually charges were filed. So Kevin has now been charged with first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm. And right now, investigators aren't just looking at what had happened that night, but also what led up to that night. They're building a full timeline that is rooted in surveillance footage, message logs, witness accounts, and of course, forensic evidence. So they're really just trying to piece together everything that led up to the moment that she was shot and lost her life.

Starting point is 00:32:05 So this case, like I said, is very much still active. It might be a while before we know for sure what's going to happen with this. But definitely we'll keep an eye on everything and keep you updated. So lots to go over. I feel like all of these cases are going to get deep dives at some point because there's just so much information that we can't all pack into this episode. But we will be following all of these cases very closely. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you guys are knee deep. some mashed potatoes and stuffing and turkeys and doing all of the things. And as a reminder, we also have our Black Friday sale going on that's going through Monday. So merch, Annie Elise.com, and Patreon, patreon.com slash Annie Elise. I hope you guys have a fantastic long holiday weekend and you are resting and relaxing. If you feel like you need way more stuff to fill your day because you're not used to these long weekends, I got you covered. Tomorrow we do have a new bonus episode that will be released both on Patreon and on the podcast through Apple. So lots to get you through this long weekend. And if you didn't listen to Tuesday's episode on the 10 to Life podcast, you can go listen to

Starting point is 00:33:16 that now. It is one that is sure to, you know, disturb you. But yeah, thank you so much for tuning in and joining us and happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. All right, bye guys. Thank you.

SERIALously - 340: Family of Anna Kepner Speaks Out as Stepbrother Is Named Suspect in Cruise Death

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.