The United States Coast Guard is preparing to launch a renewed search for Lynette Hooker, a Michigan woman who has been missing since April after falling overboard from a boat in the Bahamas, according to reports.
Newly analysed GPS data from the vessel she was aboard with her husband, Brian Hooker, contradicts his account of where the incident occurred, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation told NBC News. This discrepancy led initial search efforts to focus on the wrong area.
GPS information retrieved from Brian Hooker's electronic devices indicated movements that did not align with what he told investigators, a U.S. official also confirmed to CBS News. Brian Hooker has denied any wrongdoing and has since returned to the United States, nearly two months after his wife vanished.
Coast Guard officials are now seeking permission from Bahamian authorities to deploy a dive team to explore new sections of the Sea of Abaco, following a more precise understanding of where Lynette Hooker's body might be located.
Investigators have also requested DNA samples from some of Lynette Hooker's relatives to aid the inquiry. Her daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told NBC she provided a DNA sample on Wednesday. An attorney for Brian Hooker declined to comment when approached by NBC News.
Brian Hooker initially told Bahamian authorities that his wife fell from their motorboat while travelling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay on the night of April 4, and that strong currents swept her away. He was arrested on April 8 in connection with her disappearance but was released five days later without any charges being filed.
“I’ve never harmed Lynette, and I would never harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette,” Brian Hooker told NBC. However, Aylesworth previously stated that her mother and Brian Hooker had a history of conflict, particularly when drinking.
The couple had accused each other of assault in 2015, but a warrant was denied due to insufficient evidence. They also separated temporarily in 2024, during which Lynette Hooker confided in a friend about the deterioration of their relationship while at sea.
“I guess it was too much closeness. We decided to call it quits. I'm not going back,” Lynette Hooker wrote in messages to her friend Marnee Stevenson, obtained by CBS News. “We were married 21 years. Our marriage lasted 6 weeks cruising.”
The Michigan couple had documented their seafaring adventures on social media under the name “Sailing Hookers,” with their most recent video posted on March 9.
