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Brian Hooker, whose wife Lynette disappeared during a nighttime boat ride in the Bahamas, told CBS News he wants to believe his wife is still alive and plans to go back out to look for her as soon as possible.
“I won’t be able to stop looking,” Hooker said, getting emotional, adding that “someone with more authority” will have to tell him to stop.
He responded, “I want to,” when asked if he believes Lynette is still alive.
Hooker, 59, was arrested by Bahamian authorities last Wednesday for questioning about his wife’s disappearance, his attorney, Terrel Butler, told CBS News. Hooker has denied any wrongdoing. He was released from custody Monday night, five days after being detained.
Lynette Hooker, 55, has not been found. The Royal Bahamas Police Force said last week that search and rescue operations had turned into search and recovery.
Lynette Hooker/Facebook
Brian Hooker, however, still expressed optimism Lynette could be alive.
“I believe I’ve been told that people have lasted in the Bahamas after falling overboard for days and even weeks,” he told CBS News on Tuesday.
“There are so many islands, there are so many sandbars, little atolls and spits of land,” he continued. “Of course you think about alternatives to that, but I’m not really capable of just turning away from this.”
Couple has long history of sailing
The Hookers, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, were known to be avid sailors. Brian Hooker told CBS News the pair had been sailing for more than 12 years and being together on the water was “fantastic.”
“We we’re more like co-captains,” he said. “There are certain jobs that I did, and certain jobs that she did, because there’s a big enough boat that it takes two people to really to run efficiently.”
The boat, called Soulmate, is 46 feet long, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. “She’s our floating home,” he said. “We’ve been on her for four years now.”
He told authorities that Lynette fell from their 8-foot dinghy — not the larger ship — on the evening of April 4, while they sailed from Hope Town to Elbow Cay. He said powerful currents swept her away, along with the keys to their dingy, which cut power to its engine and prevented him from reaching her.
Police said Brian Hooker paddled to the island of Abacoa, where he docked at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday, April 5. Police said he told someone that his wife was missing, and that person then informed authorities.
