Months after Lynette Hooker vanished in the Bahamas, her mother is challenging husband Brian Hooker’s version of what happened the night she disappeared.
Lynette Hooker, a Michigan woman who vanished while vacationing with her husband in the Bahamas in April, was reported missing April 4 after the couple was boating near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands.
Brian Hooker has maintained that his wife fell from a dinghy at night and was swept away by the current while they were en route to their sailboat, “Soulmate.”
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Lynette’s body has not been recovered.
Now, Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, says she believes her daughter made it back to “Soulmate” before she vanished.
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“She made it back to the boat, and there was foul play,” Hamlett told Fox News Digital.
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Hamlett did not elaborate on how she reached that conclusion but said she has been limited in what she can publicly discuss.
“As a mother, it’s taking longer than I would anticipate, but that’s what the Coast Guard told me to say. That’s all I’m saying,” she said.
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The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service declined to comment on Hamlett’s claims, telling Fox News Digital, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigation.”
“As we have previously stated, we have been in communication with investigators and prosecutors on the case and will not discuss facts in the media while the investigation is ongoing,” Brian Hooker’s attorney, Matt Borgula, told Fox News Digital.
Hamlett’s comments come after U.S. Coast Guard investigators traveled to the Bahamas last month to conduct dive searches in the Sea of Abaco and land searches with the assistance of a cadaver dog in an effort to locate Lynette.
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Investigators also returned to the United States with the dinghy Lynette was last known to be on. It is expected to undergo further forensic examination for potential evidence.
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Brian Hooker initially told investigators he and his wife were on a nighttime boat ride when Lynette fell from a small dinghy and was swept away.
According to authorities, Brian said he was forced to paddle back to shore because Lynette was carrying the dinghy’s ignition key when she went overboard.
After Lynette disappeared, Brian said in a Facebook post that he was “heartbroken.”
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“I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas,” he wrote.
“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.”
After being questioned and released by Bahamian authorities, Brian Hooker returned to the United States and has not been seen or heard from publicly.
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He has not been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing.
