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Bahamian officials say they have taken a 59-year-old U.S. citizen into custody and he is being questioned in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, the Michigan woman whose husband said fell off their boat over the weekend.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force did not immediately release the man’s name, citing the organization’s policy, but his attorney, Terrel Butler, identified him to CBS News as Brian Hooker.
Butler says Brian Hooker “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing” and “has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.”
The arrest comes as the search for Lynette Hooker continues near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, which the Royal Bahamian Defense Force said has turned into a search and recovery operation.
The U.S. Coast Guard has also launched a criminal investigation into the case, a U.S. official told CBS News on Wednesday. The Coast Guard is taking the lead on the investigative efforts in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to the official.
The Coast Guard’s Criminal Investigative Service handles crimes on U.S.-flagged vessels in international waters. The investigation remains in its early stages, the U.S. official said.
The Royal Bahamian Defense Force on Wednesday said the rescue effort for Hooker has turned into a recovery operation, though the local authority has not requested assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Brian Hooker reported that he and his wife, who are both U.S. nationals, set sail aboard an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy from Elbow Cay on Saturday night, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
He told police his wife fell overboard with the keys to the boat, causing its engine to turn off. He said that strong currents carried her out to sea and he lost sight of her, according to police. Brian Hooker paddled the dinghy to shore, arriving hours later at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard at 4 a.m. Sunday, police said.
Lynette Hooker was wearing a black bathing suit at the time, officials said.
The criminal investigation into the incident comes as Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, seeks answers about what happened on the dinghy.
In an interview with CBS News, Aylesworth described her mother as an experienced swimmer who has been sailing for more than 10 years. She said she wants authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident and that she doesn’t believe the sequence of events described by Brian Hooker.
“For one, I don’t understand how she got the key,” Aylesworth said. “Brian’s always driving. So he basically is in charge of the key. So the fact that my mom had it doesn’t make any sense.”
Aylesworth told CBS News that Brian and Lynette Hooker had split up and gotten back together in recent years. Brian Hooker declined to answer questions about the investigation when approached by CBS News on Tuesday but has since addressed his wife’s disappearance in a social media statement.
“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 said Wednesday. “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.”
Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, says his client “in particular (denies) the allegations recently made by Karli Aylesworth.”
