Police within the Bahamas arrest husband of US girl who was aboard boat and vanished
Police in the Bahamas said late Wednesday that they have arrested the husband of a US woman who was aboard a boat near the archipelago and vanished.
Authorities said the 59-year-old man whom they did not identify was arrested in Abaco and is being questioned.
A Coast Guard spokesperson told The Associated Press late Wednesday that they have opened a criminal investigation into the case.
Police did not provide further details, including whether or not he was charged.
Officials have said Lynette Hooker, 55, was traveling in an 8-foot motorboat from Hope Town to Elbow Cay on Saturday night, and that her husband, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, told authorities she fell overboard with the boat keys, causing the engine to turn off.
Authorities said Brian Hooker then paddled to shore and alerted someone about the incident early Sunday.
Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, told outlet late Wednesday that she was ‘glad to hear’ about the arrest, but declined further comment, saying she was seeking more information.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hamlett said she wants to hear more from her son-in-law about how Lynette vanished.
Lynette Hooker was said to have fallen from a dinghy as she and her husband Brian were making their way back to their sailboat, Soulmate
Brian Hooker, 58, said he last saw his wife swimming towards the shore before he ‘lost sight of her’
Search-and-rescue teams announced the mission to find Lynette had become a recovery operation on Tuesday
The couple had been married for more than two decades and lived in Onsted, Michigan.
‘I’m going to be interested in what he says, because I haven’t heard from him in almost two days,’ Hamlett said.
‘Our family grew up on water and so Lynette her whole life has been near lakes, on boats, sailing and swimming.
‘It would be a miracle if [she’s rescued], but I’m still counting on one,’ Hamlett added.
Brian broke his silence four days after she was swept away, speaking out amid claims that he failed to notify his wife’s daughter of the tragedy for 24 hours.
‘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,’ Brian Hooker said in a statement to the Daily Mail, Wednesday.
‘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,’ he added.
The couple were headed to their yacht when Brian said she slipped and fell in poor weather
Her husband, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, told the Royal Bahamas Police Force that they left around 7.30pm on an 8ft dinghy
On Tuesday, Lynette’s daughter Karli Aynesworth called for a full investigation into the events leading up to her mother’s fall.
‘There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation,’ she told Fox News Digital.
‘If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,’ she added.
‘However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.’
Aynesworth also told CBS that her mother is a seasoned sailor and swimmer, with over a decade of experience on the water.
She is unable to wrap her mind around how Lynette fell overboard and vanished.
A source close to the family has told the Daily Mail that Brian only called his stepdaughter a full day after Lynette went missing.
’So more than 24 hours later. We don’t know why. We don’t know if he was busy looking,’ said the source. ‘We just don’t know.
‘Karli has not really been back in contact since because she finds the circumstances a little suspicious.
Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth called for a full investigation into the events leading up to her mother’s fatal fall and says her stepfather didn’t tell her of the tragedy for 24 hours
Aylesworth, now 28, pictured on mother’s lap in undated photo
Lynette Hooker, 55, of Onsted, Michigan, fell into the Abaco Islands’ water while taking a boat ride with her husband
Without an engine or boat keys, Brian navigated the boat through the night before reaching the marina at 4am Sunday to call authorities
‘They were a couple literally living on the bigger boat for four years and it would be hard for them to misjudge the chop if it was bad. They would have said, hey, maybe we shouldn’t do this.’
The source said local officials did not contact Aynesworth about the tragedy and there has been no contact with them since the news was broken to her.
On the hint referring to her ‘prior issues’ comment, the source said: ‘I’ve tried to tell her all relationships have disagreements. Her mom did tell her some stuff, but she doesn’t want to reveal anything more.
‘Karli was down in The Bahamas with them both at the end of February, beginning of March and she was actually on the boat at a slightly different place.’
Aylesworth previously shared harrowing details about her mother and stepfather’s relationship to Fox News.
‘There is a 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,’ she told the outlet.
‘There has also been a history of domestic violence in that relationship, so I do believe something might have happened to her.’
Aylesworth also shared a voicemail Brian sent her with CBS News , in which he spoke about throwing a flotation device to Lynette after she fell.
Aynesworth said of her mother’s disappearance: ‘If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it’
The couple had been making their way back to their sailboat Soulmate in an 8ft dinghy when Lynette fell overboard
Lynette’s husband, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, told police his wife slipped and fell due to poor weather while traveling on a dinghy to get to their yacht
‘Hello, honey, it’s Dad. I just got a call from Hope Town Search and Rescue, and they found the flotation device that I threw to Mom when she fell overboard,’ he told his stepdaughter.
A US State Department spokesman previously said it was ‘aware of reports regarding a missing American near Elbow Cay,’ adding that they were ‘working with Bahamian authorities to provide assistance.’
The investigation remains ongoing as the search for Lynette continues.
The Bahamas currently has a level two travel advisory, warning visitors to exercise increased caution due to increased crime and swimming-related risks.
In summary, the advisory cited violent crimes, such as armed robberies, burglaries, and sexual assaults, as well as the lack of regulation around boating, which has led to injury and death.
Daily Mail reached out to The Royal Bahamas Defence Force for comment.
