An 18-year-old Central Florida student was found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month while vacationing with her family.

The family of Anna Kepner, a soon-to-be high-school graduate, is speaking publicly for the first time about her mysterious death and the loss they are grappling with.

Authorities have released few details. But a death certificate provided to ABC News by her family states that Miss Kepner died of "mechanical asphyxia", with the date of injury listed as 6 November.

Ms Kepner was on vacation in the Caribbean with her father, stepmother and three step-siblings when she was discovered dead in her cabin.

Here's what we know about the case.