Bahamas police again question US man over disappearance of wife at sea

Police in the Bahamas on Monday were set to again interview a US man who said his wife fell overboard from their boat.

In a statement on Sunday to the Guardian, Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said: “The police have requested another interview with [Brian Hooker] tomorrow.”

The request came after police on Friday evening extended Hooker’s custody by 72 hours, shortly after interviewing him for more than three hours.

Hooker had previously told police that his 55-year-old wife, Lynette – to whom he has been married for more than two decades – went missing on 4 April after she fell overboard from their 8ft, hard-bottom dinghy while they were en route from Hope Town to Elbow Cay.

Hooker said he then paddled from Elbow Cay to Marsh Harbor Boat Yard, where he alerted authorities. He also said his wife had been holding the keys to the boat’s engine, which shut off. “Strong currents subsequently carried her away, and he lost sight of her,” police said in an initial statement on 4 April.

Hooker was detained by Bahamian police on 8 April but has not been charged with a crime. The 72-hour extension on Friday was set to expire on Monday evening, which effectively was a deadline for Hooker to be released or charged.

He has denied any wrongdoing and is cooperating with police, his lawyer said.

Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has cast doubt on Hooker’s account, telling various outlets that she did not believe her mother would “just fall” from a boat. She has also said that she believes “this was probably pre-planned, if anything; like – it doesn’t seem like just some accident.”

Speaking to the Associated Press, Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, said her daughter “grew up on water” and has always been “near lakes, on boats, sailing and swimming”.

The couple ran several social media accounts under the name The Sailing Hookers, including TikTok and YouTube – where they posted videos documenting their sailing journeys across the Caribbean.

Text messages Lynette sent in 2024 to a friend, Marnee Stevenson, and obtained by CBS News, showed that the couple had previously decided to separate before reconciling.

“I guess it was just too much closeness,” Lynette wrote at the time. “We decided to call it quits. I’m not going back,” Lynette wrote in January 2024. She added: “We were married 21 years. Our marriage lasted 6 weeks cruising.”

Lynette went on to say: “It was real bad. I can’t be out there with him.”

One month later, Stevenson messaged Lynette saying: “Looks like things are on the up and up.” Lynette replied with three red heart emojis and a thumbs-up.

In 2015, the couple accused each other of assault, according to a police report reviewed by NBC. In the report, Hooker – who was intoxicated and had a bloody nose – said Lynette had hit him multiple times in the face. Lynette was subsequently arrested and spent a night in jail.

However, a warrant was denied due to “insufficient evidence as to who started the assault”.

Meanwhile, Aylesworth said the couple had a “history of not getting along, especially when they drink”.