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45m ago

Coast Guard Seizes Dinghy as GPS Data Trigger New Bahamas Search for Missing Sailor

Conflicting GPS and device data have led investigators to treat the case as a possible homicide, directing new underwater searches.

Photos off the coast of Hope Town, Bahamas, show Coast Guard and Royal Bahamas Police Force crews preparing to look for Lynette Hooker in the water.
The US Coast Guard on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, began its renewed search in the Bahamas for missing American woman Lynette Hooker, whose disappearance has prompted a federal criminal investigation
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Overview

  • Lynette Hooker went missing on April 4 after she reportedly fell from an 8-foot dinghy while returning to the sailboat Soulmate, and her body has not been found.
  • This week investigators seized the couple’s dinghy and are forensically examining it while also processing the previously seized sailboat for camera footage and other physical evidence.
  • Recovered GPS and other digital data from Brian Hooker’s devices appear to conflict with his account of the trip and have produced new search areas in the Sea of Abaco.
  • U.S. teams including Coast Guard divers, underwater drones and cadaver/K9 units have deployed to the newly identified sites with permission from Bahamian authorities as federal agencies continue forensic work.
  • No criminal charges have been filed and Brian Hooker denies wrongdoing; family members have provided DNA to aid identification and investigators warn saltwater exposure and time complicate any recovery or forensic analysis.