After spending about a week in custody in the Bahamas, Brian Hooker, of Onsted, Michigan, was released by authorities who had been questioning him in connection with his wife’s disappearance from their small boat near the island nation. Hooker had been held since April 8 after police questioned him about what happened aboard the vessel, authorities said in a statement.
Bahamas police said Hooker told investigators that his wife, Lynette Hooker, 55, fell overboard on the night of April 4 while they were traveling in an 8-foot (2.4-meter) motorboat from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, a group of small islands on the eastern end of the Bahamas. The police statement said Hooker told them Lynette had the boat’s keys, causing the engine to shut off and forcing him to paddle ashore.
According to the same police account, Hooker told authorities that strong currents subsequently carried Lynette away and that he lost sight of her. After reaching shore, police said Hooker alerted someone about his wife’s disappearance early the following day.
Authorities said law enforcement freed Hooker after consulting with prosecutors, who recommended against filing charges at this time while investigations remained underway. Hooker was not immediately available for additional comment; police said Lynette did not immediately respond to an email sent by The Associated Press requesting comment.
Hooker told CBS News shortly after his release that he wants to believe his wife is still alive and plans to go back out to look for her as soon as possible. He also said, “I won’t be able to stop looking,” according to the report.
Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said Hooker has denied any wrongdoing. The U.S. Coast Guard, meanwhile, has opened an investigation separate from the one being conducted by Bahamas authorities.
A relative of Lynette Hooker offered skepticism about the overboard account. Her daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told NBC News that it is unlikely her mother would “just fall” off the boat and said she was an experienced sailor; she also noted the couple had been sailing for years on their voyages.
The couple has chronicled sailing around the Caribbean, including posting videos in 2023 about buying a sailboat in Rockport, Texas, and later embarking on a cruise through the Gulf of Mexico from Kemah, Texas. Their home in Onsted is about 70 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.
The reported case also includes past allegations from both partners. In 2015, Brian and Lynette Hooker accused each other of assault, according to a Kentwood, Michigan, police report obtained by NBC; the report described Brian as intoxicated and bleeding from the nose at the time, and it said a warrant was denied because it was not clear “who started the assault.”
As Bahamas police move forward with their investigation without charges against Hooker at this time, the parallel U.S. Coast Guard probe keeps the search and review process active and ongoing.