The husband of a girl who was reported missing within the Bahamas after going overboard on a dinghy was questioned after which launched by police with out prices on Monday, in line with his lawyer.
Lynette Hooker, 55, of Michigan, has been lacking for over per week. She and her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, had departed Hope City on the Abaco Islands for his or her yacht, Soulmate, in Elbow Cay round 7:30 p.m. on April 4, when unhealthy climate brought about Lynette Hooker to fall overboard, her husband advised authorities.
The Hookers’ boat, “Soulmate,” is seen in Marsh Harbor on Nice Abaco Island within the Bahamas, April 8, 2026.
ABC Information
Brian Hooker was arrested on Wednesday in connection together with his spouse’s disappearance and interviewed by Bahamian police for about three hours on Friday. Police subsequently requested an extension to provide them till Monday night to make any charging choice, in line with his lawyer, Terrel Butler.
Butler advised ABC Information Monday night time that Hooker is free to go away the Bahamas after being launched.
She additionally stated police haven’t given Hooker any updates on the seek for his spouse since his arrest.
Butler stated Hooker is taken into account a suspect in his spouse’s disappearance and denies any wrongdoing.
Following his preliminary interview on Friday, Butler stated Brian Hooker was “questioned in relation to inflicting hurt, which resulted in her demise.”
“He positively denies inflicting her demise and he is nonetheless asking about her and is hopeful that she will likely be recovered,” Butler continued, saying they haven’t been knowledgeable of any proof that her physique has been recovered.
Brian and Lynette Hooker in a photograph posted to their social media.
the_sailing_hookers/Instagram
The lawyer stated Brian Hooker is “heartbroken” over the disappearance of his spouse of 25 years and that his arrest has been “traumatic.”
His arrest got here after a number of sources advised ABC Information a prison investigation had been opened into whether or not there was any wrongdoing within the case. The U.S. Coast Guard is main the probe, in line with a supply acquainted with the investigation.
In an announcement posted to social media final Wednesday, Brian Hooker stated “unpredictable seas and excessive winds” brought about his “beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy” close to Elbow Cay.
“Regardless of determined makes an attempt to achieve her, the winds and currents drove us additional aside. We proceed to seek for her and that’s my sole focus,” he stated.
Brian Hooker advised police that his spouse was holding the boat key when she went overboard, inflicting the 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy’s engine to close off, in line with the Royal Bahamas Police Drive. He subsequently paddled the boat again to shore, arriving at a marina at round 4 a.m. on April 5, and reported his spouse overboard, police stated.
The Hookers documented their crusing travels on social media beneath the identify “The Crusing Hookers.”
Brian and Lynette Hooker in a photograph posted to their social media.
the_sailing_hookers/Instagram
Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has referred to as for a “full and full investigation” into her mom’s disappearance.
She advised ABC Information her stepfather, Brian Hooker, advised her that her mother “fell out of the boat and that he threw a life jacket to her or one thing, and he does not know if she received it or not.”
Lynette Hooker’s mom, Darlene Hamlett, advised ABC Information she hopes “we discover the reality” amid the investigation and alleged the couple have had a risky relationship.
“I simply need the reality to return out and I am hoping that they’ll do this, and I hope they discover her and that that can assist clear up all of this,” she stated.
