Overview
- Lynette Hooker disappeared after a nighttime dinghy trip on April 4, and her husband, Brian Hooker, reported she fell overboard while they were returning to their sailboat.
- Forensic extraction of GPS data from at least one of Brian Hooker’s electronic devices shows movements that do not match his earlier route description and identifies previously unsearched spots in the Sea of Abaco.
- U.S. investigators have asked Bahamian authorities for permission to send U.S. dive teams to those new locations as they continue a criminal probe without having filed charges.
- The Coast Guard seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, and is forensically processing onboard systems including a FLIR infrared camera and device logs while the FBI lab in Quantico examines other evidence.
- Brian Hooker was detained and questioned in the Bahamas then released without charge, he denies wrongdoing, relatives have been asked for DNA, and investigators face technical and legal hurdles because electronics can be disabled and searches in Bahamian waters require local clearance.