Husband of woman reported missing after going overboard in Bahamas awaits charging decision after arrest: Attorney
The husband of a woman who was reported missing in the Bahamas after going overboard on a dinghy was questioned by police for several hours on Friday but has not yet been charged following his arrest in connection with his wife's disappearance, his attorney said.
Lynette Hooker, 55, of Michigan, and her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, had departed Hope Town on the Abaco Islands for Elbow Cay around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The couple was en route to their yacht, Soulmate, when bad weather caused Lynette Hooker to fall overboard, her husband told authorities.
Brian Hooker was arrested on Wednesday in connection with his wife's disappearance and interviewed by police for approximately three hours on Friday. Police have since requested an extension to give them until Monday evening to make any charging decision, according to his attorney, Terrel Butler.
"He was questioned in relation to causing harm, which resulted in her death," Butler told reporters. "We have not been informed of any evidence that any body has been recovered."
She continued, "He definitely denies causing her death and he's still asking about her and is hopeful that she will be recovered."
Brian Hooker has been cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation, his attorney said. He was injured after falling into the water while assisting police in a search of the Soulmate boat on the night of his arrest, according to Butler. He has since been treated for his injuries, which included an abrasion, she said.
The attorney said Brian Hooker is "heartbroken" over his wife's disappearance and that his arrest has been "traumatic."
"Brian appears completely heartbroken and deeply distressed. His primary concern and source of intense frustration is his inability to continue the search for his wife of 25 years," Butler said in a statement after visiting her client at the police station on Thursday. "The trauma of her disappearance, coupled with his current detention as a suspect, has left him in an extremely fragile state."
He "categorically denies the allegations made against him," Butler said in an earlier statement.
The arrest came after multiple sources told ABC News a criminal investigation had been opened into whether there was any wrongdoing in the case.
The U.S. Coast Guard is leading the probe, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
In a statement posted to social media on Wednesday, Brian Hooker said "unpredictable seas and high winds" caused his "beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy" near Elbow Cay.
"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 said.
Brian Hooker told police the strong currents on Saturday took her out to sea, authorities said. She was holding the boat key when she went overboard, causing the 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy's engine to shut off, police noted.
Brian Hooker subsequently paddled the boat back to shore, arriving at around 4 a.m. Sunday to a marina, where he reported his wife overboard to an individual who then alerted police, authorities said.
The search for Lynette Hooker has been conducted by land, sea and air and involved multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.
The Hookers documented their sailing travels on social media under the name "The Sailing Hookers."
Lynette Hooker's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has called for a "full and complete investigation" into her mother's disappearance.
She told ABC News her mother is fit and a good swimmer, and described what her stepfather told her about his wife's disappearance.
"He said that my mom's missing and that she fell out of the boat and that he threw a life jacket to her or something, and he doesn't know if she got it or not," she said.
"I just hope we find her," she added.
Lynette Hooker's mother, Darlene Hamlett, said she hopes "we find the truth" amid the investigation and search.
"I just want the truth to come out and I'm hoping that they can do that, and I hope they find her and that that will help clear up all of this," she said.
She said her daughter was brought up on a lake and could swim, scuba dive and manage boats and used to run marathons and do yoga.
"My daughter is a very lovely lady. She is very pretty, witty, and I'm going to miss her terribly," Hamlett told ABC News.
ABC News' Rachel DeLima contributed to this report.
