TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Family and friends of Anna Kepner continue to mourn her after the 18-year-old’s body was found aboard a Carnival cruise ship.

Loved ones gathered Thursday for a memorial in Kepner’s hometown of Titusville.

They remembered Kepner as someone who loved to make people laugh and had a great sense of style.

“It was just filled with love. I mean, you can tell everybody really cared and of course people missed her,” Jim Tew, whose nephew dated Kepner, said.

The family of Kepner’s apparent ex-boyfriend say they recall her complaining about feeling uncomfortable around her 16-year-old stepbrother who was reportedly with her on the cruise and is now a suspect in her death.

“The truth needs to come out. There were signs before this,” Tew said.

Jim Tew said his feelings are based on what he’s heard from his nephew, Anna’s ex-boyfriend, Josh Tew.

“That was my first love. She was the best that ever happened to me. I’d even walk to her work to see her, you know, for five, 10 minutes,” Josh Tew said.

Josh Tew said he was meant to go on the cruise with Kepner and her family until the two broke up some months ago. On Thursday, he spoke about the relationship between Kepner and her stepbrother.

“She complained about him being uncomfortable. Or her being uncomfortable around him,” he said.

Josh Tew said he’s shared information with authorities. With no charges filed and no arrests made, he and his family are hoping they’ll see justice for Kepner.

“I’m praying and hoping that this will come out so that they will have a solid case and justice will be done for why she’s not with us today,” Jim Tew said.

Kepner’s stepmother appeared at a court hearing Thursday involving the custody of her two minor children from her previous marriage. One of them was the 16-year-old suspect.

No arrests have been made and Kepner’s cause of death has not been released.

A spokesperson for the FBI has declined to comment about the case, saying the agency “does not provide operational updates about ongoing investigations.”

A final autopsy report detailing the cause and manner of death is still pending, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The suspect has only been identified as “T.H.” in court papers filed by his father, Thomas Hudson, who is seeking custody of the youngest of the three children he shares with his ex-wife.

Hudson’s ex-wife, Shauntel Hudson, also acknowledged in family court filings that her middle child was a suspect in the death of Kepner aboard the Carnival Horizon ship. Shauntel Hudson married Kepner’s father after her divorce from Thomas Hudson. Kepner was traveling aboard the ship with Shauntel Hudson and her minor children.

“It is true that there is an open investigation regarding the death of the biological daughter of the stepfather and T.H. is a suspect regarding this death which occurred recently on a cruise ship,” Shauntel Hudson’s attorney wrote.

Shauntel Hudson wrote that this week she and her ex-husband had agreed to have the teenage boy live with a relative “to ensure the safety of the youngest child of the parties.” She also said that her ex-husband had hired an attorney for their son due to the probe into Kepner’s death.

Earlier this week, Shauntel Hudson’s attorney had asked for a delay in a court hearing scheduled next month because of the FBI investigation. The attorney argued that her client cannot be compelled to testify, as any testimony Shauntel Hudson may give “could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation.”

Kepner’s loved ones had said Thursday’s memorial in Titusville would be a celebration of life for the young woman. Her family encouraged attendees to wear colorful clothes instead of the traditional mourner’s black, “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”

Kepner’s obituary described her as someone who loved spending time on the water and said she was planning to graduate high school next year from Temple Christian School in Titusville.

The Carnival Horizon can hold nearly 4,000 guests and sails to the Caribbean. Carnival Cruise Line said the ship returned to PortMiami on Nov. 8 as planned and the ship was working with the FBI Miami office to investigate the death.

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