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Stepbrother climbed ‘on top of’ cheerleader in video call before cruise death, ex-boyfriend says

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Stepbrother climbed ‘on top of’ cheerleader in video call before cruise death, ex-boyfriend says

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TITUSVILLE, Fla. — As the FBI investigates 18-year-old Anna Kepner’s mysterious death aboard a cruise ship, a custody battle involving her 16-year-old stepbrother has unveiled allegations of inappropriate behavior, family turmoil and disputed claims that underage drinking occurred in international waters.

No criminal charges have been announced, but her stepmother Shauntel Kepner’s ongoing legal fight with her ex-husband Thomas Hudson revealed Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother has been eyed as a suspect.

Anna’s ex-boyfriend witnessed creepy interactions with the stepbrother visiting her bedroom at 3 a.m. FaceTime calls, a source close to the family told Fox News Digital.

“When I was on FaceTime with her, and she was lying down, and her brother tried to go on top of her,” the 15-year-old ex-boyfriend told reporters after Anna’s memorial service.

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STEPMOTHER IN CRUISE SHIP DEATH MYSTERY FEARS CHILD COULD BE INCRIMINATED: COURT DOCS

Christopher Kepner (center, red hat) arrives at a memorial service for his daughter, Anna Kepner, at the Grove Church in Titusville, Florida, Thursday, November 20, 2025. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

He said he reported the encounter to Anna’s parents and said she had complained about being “uncomfortable” around her stepbrother before. He went on to describe Anna as his “first love” and said he would have been on the cruise with the Kepner family earlier this month if they hadn’t broken up.

“She was scared of him,” the ex’s father, Steven Westin, told Inside Edition separately. “Because he always carried around a big knife.”

WATCH: Anna Kepner’s ex-boyfriend breaks silence on her cruise ship death

After Anna’s death, the stepbrother’s father demanded a custody hearing, accusing his ex-wife of alienating their two youngest children from him after a violent altercation involving their oldest. He argued that his lack of involvement in their lives is having a serious impact on them.

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The teen stepsiblings had access to alcohol in international waters despite being under 21, Hudson alleged at a hearing Thursday morning, according to Click Orlando, a local news site. Shauntel’s lawyer denied the claim.

FBI INVESTIGATES CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP DEATH IN MARITIME MYSTERY THAT CAN BE ‘VERY COMPLEX,’ FORMER AGENT SAYS

Anna Kepner was identified by her family as the passenger who died onboard the Carnival Horizon. (Instagram/Anna Kepner)

“The [16-year-old]’s future has been put in jeopardy because of the choices made by [Shauntel],” according to Hudson’s filing.

Carnival requires that guests under 21 travel with someone 25 or older. Kids 14 and under have to be in the same or a connecting cabin. Teens 15 to 17 can be in a nearby stateroom, within about three cabins of the adult, and 18- to 20-year-olds can be booked anywhere on the ship as long as they’re linked to an adult over 25.

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The teen’s current whereabouts are unclear. According to the filing, he has been released from custody and is staying with an unnamed third party.

Anna Kepner, her father, stepmother and several siblings in a family photo. (Shauntel Kepner/Facebook)

At some point during the course of the week, Anna’s obituary was also edited to change which family members were reflected.

The name of her dad’s second ex-wife, Tabitha Kepner, was removed entirely after initially being identified as her mother. The current version lists her mom as Heather Wright. A reference to the Donohue family was removed. So was a reference to her 16-year-old stepbrother, who is now believed to be the suspect.

Anna’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, formerly Shauntel Hudson, is her father’s current wife. In an emergency motion filed in Brevard County, she asked a judge to postpone a December hearing in a proceeding with her ex-husband due to the FBI investigation into Anna’s death aboard a Carnival cruise ship on Nov. 7.

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“The Respondent (Shauntel) has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys, that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action,” her attorney, Millicent Athanason, wrote to a Brevard County judge on Nov. 17.

The 16-year-old was hospitalized “immediately after the incident” on the ship for an undisclosed reason, according to Athanason, and is now living with one of his mother’s relatives, according to ClickOrlando.com.

CRUISE SHIP DEATH: CHEERLEADER’S STEPMOM COULD BE FORCED TO TESTIFY AGAINST HER OWN SON

A still image shows 18-year-old Anna Kepner’s cryptic final TikTok post, posted eight days before she was found dead on a cruise ship. (@fl.anna18/TikTok)

Relatives say they have received few official answers since the ship docked. Anna’s birth mother, Heather Wright, told WESH 2 she learned of her daughter’s death through an online search. She has not responded to Fox News Digital’s attempts to reach her.

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“I found out through Google. I ended up Googling it, because the only information I had was that my daughter was on a cruise,” she told the local outlet.

Similarly, Anna’s stepgrandfather, Christopher Donahue, 53, told Fox News Digital Wednesday that he too learned about her death through social media.

CRUISE SHIP DEATH MYSTERY: CHEERLEADER’S FINAL POSTS HINT AT HEARTBREAK AND RESILIENCE AS DAD BREAKS SILENCE

“I don’t know why Anna was staying in a room with her stepbrother,” Donahue said. He said he learned about the arrangement from a news article. 

“All I know is that she went on that boat, and she never came back,” he added. “You don’t go 0 to 100, but we weren’t on the boat. Everyone is heartbroken. There are questions. I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

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The swirl of public claims around Anna’s death has revived long-simmering disputes. In a March 31, 2023, divorce petition filed in Brevard County and obtained by Fox News Digital, Anna’s former stepmother, Tabitha L. Kepner, alleges that Christopher Purcell Kepner, Anna’s father, had a “history of physical and mental abuse toward the minor children and toward the Petitioner,” and she sought sole parental responsibility for the children she shared with him and supervised time-sharing. 

She was married to Christopher Kepner after he split with Anna’s mother and before he met his third wife, Shauntel.

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In 2024, Michelle Johnson filed a small claims suit in Brevard County against Shauntel Hudson seeking the return of several firearms, including a 12-gauge shotgun and two rifles, which she alleged Hudson refused to hand back.

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The filings include a series of emails in which Johnson accused Hudson of “manipulating and alienating” her children from their father, describing the situation as “a very sad and heartbreaking ordeal.”

“Prior [sic] to you, manipulating controlling and brainwashing them for the past month,” Johnson wrote to Hudson. “It’s devastating and upsetting. Please step back and look at what’s the best for these kids? They need their family…”

That case was later dismissed after Johnson missed a service of process deadline.

Together, the records paint a portrait of a fractured family now thrust into the spotlight following Anna’s mysterious death aboard the six-day Carnival cruise.

Anna’s family and friends attended a service at The Grove Church in Titusville, Fla., on Thursday evening. One of the Kepners’ neighbors told Fox News Digital Thursday that their street has been quiet since Anna’s death. He described the Kepners as a friendly family.

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Two vehicles, a Dodge truck and Chevy SUV, were parked in the Kepners’ driveway, but no one answered the door. Investigators have not disclosed a cause or manner of death, and prosecutors have not filed charges.

Anna Kepner’s family said she had dreams of joining the military. (Instagram/Anna Kepner)

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Hundreds of mourners gathered Thursday at The Grove Church in Titusville, Florida, to celebrate the life of Kepner. Guests were greeted by her graduation photos and invited to leave a fingerprint on a poster bearing her picture. Inside the church’s auditorium, a slideshow traced her life through images of karate lessons, Disney trips, lake days, beach outings, cheerleading fundraisers, and carefree flips at a bounce house.

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Virginia prosecutor’s record on violent offenders scrutinized after illegal immigrant charged in mom’s murder

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Virginia prosecutor’s record on violent offenders scrutinized after illegal immigrant charged in mom’s murder

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A prosecutor in Virginia is facing criticism after a Fairfax County Police Department officer warned the county’s commonwealth attorney about a criminal illegal immigrant who has racked up over 30 arrests before allegedly killing a mother.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed a mother to death while at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Feb. 23. Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano’s office, however, was warned several times about how dangerous Jalloh is, and dismissed many of his previous criminal charges.

Jalloh’s case is far from the only controversial actions by Descano’s office, which even includes a plea deal with a murder suspect that allows him the chance at freedom.

POLICE WARNED PROSECUTORS 3 TIMES ABOUT VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BEFORE HE ALLEGEDLY KILLED VIRGINIA MOTHER

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Here’s a list of controversial cases handled by Descano’s office:

Abdul Jalloh

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop.  (Fox 5 DC)

Jalloh, 32, was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed a mother to death while at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Feb. 23. The victim, 41-year-old Stephanie Minter, was found dead with multiple stab wounds to her upper body, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Jalloh has a violent rapsheet dating back to 2014 and includes over 30 arrests with several charges dismissed by Descano’s office.

Jalloh was arrested the next day while he was allegedly trying to steal from a liquor store when an employee called 911. Officials said Jalloh came to the U.S. illegally in 2012 from Sierra Leone under the Obama administration.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer on Jalloh in 2020, and he was later issued a final order of removal allowing him to be deported to any country other than Sierra Leone. Despite that order, he was not deported.

A police major for the Fairfax County Police Department even warned Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano about Jalloh on at least three separate occasions, according to emails obtained by WJLA.

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In one email to Fairfax County Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands, the police major said Jalloh “is one of the repeat (and violent) offenders” that they had discussed before. 

TRAVIS COUNTY DA FACES RENEWED ‘SOFT ON CRIME’ CRITICISM AFTER CAREER CRIMINAL CHARGED WITH MURDER

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano speaking at an event. (Sarah Voisin/Getty Images)

“I wanted to get your background on why he is out so soon and ask if his prior suspended sentence (of I believe 5 years) was pursued by your office? Unfortunately, based on MTV Station’s numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again. My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status,” the major wrote.

A Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the office “was aware of Jalloh’s criminal history and shared police concerns about potential future dangerousness. That is why our Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney personally handled these cases.”

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The spokesperson added that prosecutors “will often explore many different pathways to successful prosecution, but, at the end of the day, our decisions are constrained by what testimony is available and what is legally permissible and practicable in Fairfax courts.”

Joshua Danehower

In 2022, Joshua Danehower was arrested for the murder of Gret Glyer. (Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office)

In 2022, Danehower was charged with Gret Glyer’s murder. According to WUSA 9, Glyer, who owned the donation platform DonorSee, was shot 10 times as he slept next to his wife on June 24, 2022. 

Prosecutors alleged Danehower killed Glyer because of an obsession with his wife. The suspect allegedly became fixated with her after a church function, and according to her family, the two had gone on a date about a decade ago.

Danehower was given a plea deal by Descano’s office, which found him not guilty by reason of insanity in February.

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DHS RIPS DEM-RUN COUNTY AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERER RELEASED: ‘BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS’

Virginia law requires Danehower to be sent to a psychiatric hospital, where his status will be evaluated on an annual basis for the next five years, then every two years afterward. If he’s deemed no longer a threat to himself or others, he’d have an opportunity to be released from the psychiatric hospital.

Heather Glyer, the victim’s wife, said while on the witness stand, “I was robbed of my life partner.”

“My kids were robbed of their father,” she added.

Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron

Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron pleaded guilty to lesser charges. (DHS)

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In January 2025, according to a report by former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Ramos-Giron, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, choked his ex-wife during an argument and pulled out a knife.

He was charged with felony abduction by force, felony strangulation, and misdemeanor assault and battery against a family member after the incident, but Descano’s office allowed him to plead to lesser charges of misdemeanor battery and brandishing a bladed weapon.

In a statement released by Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Deputy Chief of Staff and Public Information Officer Laura Birnbaum, according to the report, the plea agreement “achieved the outcomes that the victim wanted.”

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However, when the victim spoke with 7News, she refuted Birnbaum’s statement, saying she didn’t agree to the plea deal.

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“He’s dangerous,” she said, fearing another violent incident would happen.

“If I die, who is going to take care of them?” the victim asked, referring to her children.

Ronnie Reel

Ronnie Reel accepted a plea deal by Fairfax county prosecutors. (Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office)

In July 2021, Reel was arrested on charges of sexual penetration, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery against a minor, according to the Fairfax County Times.

During Reel’s trial on Sept. 13, 2022, Chief Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Penney Azcarate ruled that the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s office had missed an evidentiary deadline, meaning confessions, including a call from Reel to a defendant’s mother where he allegedly confessed, as well as other evidence and witnesses couldn’t be used in court.

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According to the outlet, that meant the case would rely on the victim’s testimony entirely.

As a result, Reel was offered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery and was sentenced to one year in prison, but was released on time served. He also wasn’t required to register as a sex offender, according to FOX 5.

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The mother, who asked to be identified as Amber, told FOX 5 the case has had a big impact on her son.

“I was really upset. This is my child, this is my baby,” she said while crying. “And he got no justice. So he continues to see me cry and everything. He held his own, he stayed strong. He’s always trying to be strong for mom.”

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“He was confessing every little detail that he did, and it was making me sick to my stomach,” she added. “It was horrible. He literally confessed to me why he did it.”

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

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MIKE DAVIS: Virginia returns to the Confederacy with a seditious conspiracy against ICE

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MIKE DAVIS: Virginia returns to the Confederacy with a seditious conspiracy against ICE

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Immigration enforcement is a core federal power. Under Article I of the Constitution, Congress has the duty to write our federal immigration laws. Under Article II, the President has the duty to enforce them. States cannot meddle and certainly not obstruct. Unfortunately, many Democrat states, especially Virginia, are on a deadly collision course with the federal government.

American voters gave President Trump and the Republican-led Congress a broad electoral mandate to reverse the disaster the Biden-Harris border policy caused in every state in America by mass importing as many as 20 million illegal aliens, including the worst of the worst around the world. 

Activist judges and other Democrat politicians and election deniers have done everything they can fathom to thwart Trump’s constitutional duty to expel these dangerous illegal aliens.

TRUMP URGES DHS, ICE TO PUBLICIZE ARRESTS, SAYS CRACKDOWN IS ‘SAVING MANY INNOCENT LIVES’

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The latest example is Virginia, which is passing a series of unconstitutional laws that would dangerously and illegally obstruct ICE. These proposals include criminal penalties, meaning that state law enforcement would attempt to arrest and jail ICE agents for simply doing their jobs. 

This effort is seditious, insurrectionist, extremely dangerous and blatantly unconstitutional. For the sake of the Republic, the Justice Department must immediately and aggressively quell this Virginia seditious conspiracy.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Davis Spanberger laughs aloud during a ceremony in a Virginia court in Richmond. (Mike Kropf-Pool/Getty Images)

Fairfax County District Attorney Steve Descano is the Soros puppet Democrat prosecutor in the DC suburb, an uber-wealthy Democrat enclave that is an albatross around Virginia’s neck. Abdul Jalloh is an illegal alien who invaded our country in 2012. Jalloh settled in Virginia and began wreaking havoc on the good citizens there, racking up a whopping 30 arrests. These included one for rape and four charges for stabbing Americans. 

Yet, thanks to the willful ineptitude of Fairfax County’s Democrat regime, Jalloh only had one felony conviction. He violated his probation, spent three months in jail and went free because of a deal between his lawyer and Descano’s office. Sanctuary jurisdictions like Fairfax County do not notify ICE when detaining or releasing illegals like Jalloh, who had a final order of removal from 2020. 

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Police in Fairfax repeatedly warned Descano’s office via email that Jalloh’s release would endanger the public, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Earlier this week, Jalloh allegedly stabbed to death 41-year-old innocent mother Stephanie Minter at a bus stop.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran as a moderate Democrat. But after her inauguration this year, she immediately showed her true leftist colors. She issued an order prohibiting cooperation between state officials and ICE. 

Several anti-ICE bills await Spanberger’s signature: (1) a prohibition against ICE arrests at courthouses (where these alleged dangerous criminal illegals visit daily); (2) a prohibition against ICE arrests within 40 feet of polling places (where illegals violate federal criminal laws by voting); and (3) criminal penalties for ICE agents who wear masks (because they don’t want to get doxxed and killed).

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (Sarah Voisin/Getty Images)

If Spanberger signs these unconstitutional state laws, the Trump Justice Department should immediately sue and seek to enjoin them in court. A Virginia federal judge should issue an injunction, following the lead of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which fully stayed California’s unconstitutional prohibition against ICE agents’ use of masks.

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But civil enforcement is not enough. Virginia Democrat officials plotting to arrest ICE agents for doing their jobs (seditious conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 2384) — and especially those who cause the arrests (insurrection under 18 U.S.C. § 2383, assault, kidnapping, harboring, conspiracy, and more) — must go to federal prison for their serious federal felonies. If anyone gets killed in a deadly standoff between these new Virginia confederates and ICE, these Virginia Democrat officials must face felony murder charges.

VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS UNLEASH ON VCU NURSE FIRED OVER ‘HEALTHCARE TERRORISM’ ENCOURAGING HARMING ICE AGENTS

Former President Biden and his missing-in-action border czar Kamala Harris allowed millions of illegal immigrants, including the most violent and dangerous criminals in the world, to pour across our borders. Trump is doing everything in his power to fulfill his broad electoral mandate and undo the damage by arresting and deporting these illegals.

Virginia’s proposed laws do not merely prohibit communication between state officials and ICE; rather, they criminalize federal law enforcement actions that are plainly within the scope of federal immigration enforcement power.

Abdul Jalloh has racked up over 30 arrests since entering the U.S., according to officials. (DHS)

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States do not have to help ICE by, for instance, providing law enforcement resources to assist in ICE apprehensions of illegals. But states certainly cannot subvert or obstruct these federal efforts. This is especially true of Virginia’s attempt to arrest ICE agents in the line of duty, which could justify their use of deadly force.

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Virginia’s attempt to subvert and obstruct federal law must fail. We fought the Civil War because the Confederacy, headquartered in Virginia, sought to nullify federal law with respect to slavery. Today’s Virginia Democrats are reverting to their confederate roots. 

Just as the federal government did during the Civil War and for a century after when segregationist states continued their efforts to nullify federal law, the federal government now must stand strong against Virginia’s sedition and insurrection. The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution makes plain that federal law is supreme in areas where the federal government has authority.

If Virginia gets away with effectively nullifying federal immigration enforcement, other states can nullify any other federal law that it finds distasteful. Let’s hope Abigail Spanberger comes to her senses and vetoes this insanity. If she does not, the federal government must use all tools at its disposal, including the Insurrection Act of 1807 and other federal criminal statutes, to preserve federal law. 

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Virginia state officials must go to federal prison for engaging in seditious conspiracy, insurrections and other very serious federal felonies. Anything less would threaten the existence of the Republic.

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South Carolina pastor describes evacuating members from Middle East after war broke out during Israel trip

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South Carolina pastor describes evacuating members from Middle East after war broke out during Israel trip

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Dozens of members of a South Carolina church are finally back in the United States after Operation Epic Fury left them stranded in Israel for nearly a week after their flight was supposed to depart.

Forty members of Calvary Chapel Summerville landed in Israel on Feb. 20 for eight days of exploration in the Holy Land. 

The group was set to fly home on Feb. 28 and had arrived at the airport three hours before their scheduled departure when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. The attack prompted the closure of Israel’s airspace and the group had to evacuate the airport.

“It felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders and I just prayed and prayed and prayed and asked God to give me wisdom,” said Vic Carroll, pastor at Calvary Chapel Summerville in South Carolina.

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TRAVELERS STRANDED IN DUBAI PAYING HUGE SUMS TO FLEE ON PRIVATE CHARTER FLIGHTS AMID OPERATION EPIC FURY

Members of Calvary Chapel Summerville visit Al-Khazneh in Petra. (Melanie Carroll)

Carroll said the group had to shelter-in-place in Israel, going in and out of bomb shelters for several days. He then had to face the decision of the group staying or taking a bus to Jordan to have a shot at getting a flight back to the United States.

“We ultimately, you know, made the decision between what was bad and what was worse. I thought the worst would be to stay,” the pastor said. 

“We were instructed that if a siren goes off while we were on the road, the bus would pull over, we would all need to get on the ground, lay on the ground face-down for at least 10 minutes until the threat was gone, and then be on our way,” he continued.

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STATE DEPARTMENT USES PATRIOTS TEAM PLANE TO EVACUATE AMERICANS FROM MIDDLE EAST

The members of Calvary Chapel Summerville sightseeing in the Holy Land. (Melanie Carroll)

Fortunately, that did not happen and the group made it to the airport in Jordan to hop on a flight out of the Middle East Thursday morning.

Before the flight, Carroll said it was frightening, but their faith was greater than their fear.

“We’re just having to trust that we’re making the right decision, and this is our only option to get home, so we [were] just trusting in God,” he said.

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AMERICAN STUCK IN MIDDLE EAST ESCAPES IN RACE TO REACH CRITICALLY ILL HUSBAND IN CALIFORNIA

The group returned to the U.S. on Thursday night, landing at JFK in New York.

Melanie Carroll, the pastor’s wife, texted, “We are so thankful!!!!! It’s surreal!!” 

Melanie and Vic Carroll while visiting The Holy Land. (Kailey Schuyler)

The unexpected extension of the trip caused the price tag to increase significantly. Melanie created a GoFundMe, writing, “The path to get us home between lodging, flights and transfers will be upwards of $2500 per person.”

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The group was able to raise their goal of $100,000 in less than three days.

Melanie said the group is continuing to pray for everyone trying to get out of the Middle East. 

Nearly 24,000 Americans have returned to the U.S. after fleeing the Middle East since Operation Epic Fury began last week, according to the State Department.

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