US3 min(s) read
Published 10:19 29 May 2026 GMT
The U.S. Coast Guard is reportedly preparing to reopen the search for Michigan woman Lynette Hooker, who disappeared in the Bahamas earlier this year after allegedly falling overboard from a small boat.
According to a U.S. official familiar with the investigation, the renewed search comes after GPS data from the vessel Lynette and her husband, Brian Hooker, were traveling on appeared to conflict with his version of events from the night she vanished.
Investigators reportedly believe Hooker’s account may have directed search teams to “the wrong area” of the Sea of Abaco while authorities were initially looking for the missing 55-year-old.
As a result, the Coast Guard is now seeking permission from Bahamian officials to allow divers to conduct another search of the waters, the official said.
Brian Hooker’s attorney, Bahamas-based lawyer Terrel A. Butler, declined to comment on the latest developments due to the ongoing investigation. Hooker has repeatedly denied harming his wife or being involved in her disappearance.
Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told NBC News that she recently provided DNA to the Coast Guard to help with the investigation into her mother’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, said she has not been regularly updated by investigators and confirmed she has not spoken with Brian Hooker. She declined to comment further.
According to the U.S. official, the FBI is also examining evidence connected to the case at its Quantico, Virginia facility.
Authorities previously said Brian Hooker told investigators that Lynette fell out of their eight-foot dinghy while the pair were traveling between Hope Town and Elbow Cay on the evening of April 4.
He claimed she had the engine key with her when she went overboard, leaving him unable to restart the vessel. Hooker said he then paddled the dinghy back to shore, eventually arriving at Marsh Harbour Boat Yard around 4AM on April 5, where he informed someone what had happened. Police were then contacted.
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard seized the couple’s boat, named Soulmate, as part of the investigation.
Hooker was arrested on April 8 in connection with his wife’s disappearance but was released five days later without charges being filed. At the time, Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said Hooker would continue to be treated as a suspect in the case.
Despite the ongoing investigation, Hooker has denied any involvement in Lynette’s disappearance and has since returned to the United States.
“I’ve never harmed Lynette, and I would never harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette,” he previously told NBC News.
Lynette’s daughter also claimed the couple’s relationship had long been strained, particularly when alcohol was involved.
“They had a history of not getting along, especially when they drink,” Aylesworth said.
Records from 2015 show Lynette was once arrested on assault and battery charges after an incident involving her husband. However, a Michigan police report stated both parties accused each other of assault, and prosecutors later declined to pursue the case due to “insufficient evidence as to who started the assault.”
