Husband of US woman who vanished from boat in Bahamas arrested

The husband of missing boater Lynette Hooker has been arrested in connection with the Michigan mom’s disappearance from a boat in the Bahamas after her concerned daughter raised the alarm.

Brian Hooker, 59, was taken into custody in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, around 7:30 p.m Wednesday in connection with his wife’s disappearance — four days after she fell from an eight-foot hard dinghy en route to their yacht in Elbow Cay.

Brian was not named by Bahamian cops when they announced his arrest, but Advardo Dames, the
Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, said he had been “taken into custody as a suspect.”

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Authorities did not identify the 59-year-old man.Facebook/Brian Hooker
Terrel Butler, Brian’s attorney, confirmed the arrest and said he “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” CNN reported.

“He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation,” Butler said.

A US Coast Guard official confirmed that a criminal investigation into Lynette’s disappearance has been opened, but refused to share any further details, NBC News reported.

The search for Lynette is now a recovery mission, and her mom Darlene Hamlett, wants answers from Brian about the disappearance.

“I’m going to be interested in what he says, because I haven’t heard from him in almost two days,” she said.

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Aerial view of the harbour, lighthouse and beach in Hope Town on Elbow Cay off the island of Abaco, Bahamas.pics721 – stock.adobe.com
The development comes after Lynette’s heartbroken daughter, Karli Aylesworth, said she believes “something might have happened” involving her mom and her stepfather when the avid boaters vanished at sea Saturday night.

“I do believe something might have happened to her,” she told Fox News.

“There’s history of him choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there’s more to the story.”

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Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she wants to hear more from her son-in-law about how her daughter disappeared.Facebook/Lynette Hooker
Aylesworth also revealed that her stepdad didn’t tell her that her mom was missing until around 24 hours after she vanished in the sea.

Brian denied the accusations in a statement to the Daily Beast.

Police said an initial investigation revealed that Lynette, 55, was swept away by currents after falling into the sea from the dinghy she was in with Brian while trying to reach their yacht, Soulmate.

During the couple’s excursion from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, Lynette reportedly tumbled overboard with the boat’s keys — causing the vessel’s engine to shut off, police said.

Brian told cops that he lost sight of his wife during the rough surf and paddled the small boat back to shore, eventually arriving at Marsh Harbour Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Upon arriving at the boat yard, he informed an individual of the harrowing ordeal. That person then reported the incident to the police.

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Brian Hooker wrote on Facebook that he is “heartbroken” about the accident.Facebook/Lynette HookerAuthorities have since conducted extensive marine, land, and aerial searches in hopes of finding Lynette.

Just hours before he was taken into custody, Brian broke his silence in a Facebook post to say he was “heartbroken” over his wife’s disappearance.

“I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas,” he wrote online.

“Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart. We continue to search for her, and that is my sole focus.”

The couple had been married for more than two decades and lived in Onsted, Michigan. They had documented their yachting excursions online for the past three years under the amusing moniker “the Sailing Hookers.”