Husband of woman who fell overboard in Bahamas breaks silence amid claims he failed to tell her daughter of tragedy for 24 hours
The husband of the American woman missing at sea in The Bahamas has broken his silence four days after she was swept away from a small dinghy as the couple headed to their yacht.
Brian Hooker spoke out amid claims that he failed to notify his wife’s daughter of the tragedy for 24 hours.
Hooker, 58, has told authorities his wife Lynette was tossed overboard in darkness on Saturday, taking the dinghy’s keys with her causing the engine to shut off.
‘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,’ Brian Hooker said in a statement to the Daily Mail, 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,’ he added.
Lynette Hooker, 55, went overboard on Saturday as the couple from Onsted, Michigan, were on a four-year voyage. Authorities now say they are in a recovery operation to find her body.
On Tuesday, Lynette’s daughter Karli Aynesworth called for a full investigation into the events leading up to her mother’s fall.
‘There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation,’ she told Fox News Digital.
Lynette Hooker fell from a dinghy as she and her husband Brian were making their way back to their sailboat, Soulmate
Search-and-rescue teams announced the mission to find Lynette had become a recovery operation on Tuesday
‘If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,’ she added.
‘However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.’
Hooker claims that he couldn’t go after Lynette because the dinghy’s engine shut down. All he could do was paddle.
Now a source close to the family has told the Daily Mail that Hooker only called his stepdaughter on Sunday, a full day after Lynette went missing.
’So more than 24 hours later. We don’t know why. We don’t know if he was busy looking,’ said the source. ‘We just don’t know.
‘Karli has not really been back in contact since because she finds the circumstances a little suspicious.
‘They were a couple literally living on the bigger boat for four years and it would be hard for them to misjudge the chop if it was bad. They would have said, hey, maybe we shouldn’t do this.’
The source said local officials did not contact Aynesworth about the tragedy and there has been no contact with them since the news was broken to her.
Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth called for a full investigation into the events leading up to her mother’s fatal fall and says her stepfather didn’t tell her of the tragedy for 24 hours
The couple regularly documented their life on the water by posting photos on social media under the username The Sailing Hookers
However, they revealed that Hooker has revealed ’some kind of flotation device’ may have been found in the search.
Asked about the husband’s whereabouts, the source said: ‘We don’t know exactly. We assume he’s down there and he says he’s been searching.
‘He will send a text or two but no pertinent information other than they found some kind of flotation device, like a cushion.’
Of Aynesworth, they said: ‘She’s still in shock and this has still not really hit her. It comes in bouts where she has a sudden memory of her mom and she’ll break down and cry.
‘She has no plans to go down there yet because she just doesn’t know what’s happening.’
On the hint referring to her ‘prior issues’ comment, the source said: ‘I’ve tried to tell her all relationships have disagreements. Her mom did tell her some stuff, but she doesn’t want to reveal anything more.
‘Karli was down in The Bahamas with them both at the end of February, beginning of March and she was actually on the boat at a slightly different place.’
The Hookers started their journey four years ago in Texas before heading to Florida and then The Bahamas. ’They weren’t on it all the time, they’d have vacations, then move on,’ the source said.
They regularly documented their life on the water on social media under the username ‘The Sailing Hookers’, often showcasing their sailboat, Soulmate.
In their most recent Instagram post, shared Friday afternoon, they featured a small boat with the caption, ‘Not going anywhere for a while?!’
Meanwhile, their YouTube channel captured years of life on the open water, with short videos filmed aboard Soulmate.
Brian Hooker said he is heartbroken by his wife’s disappearance that occurred in ‘unpredictable seas and high winds’
Aynesworth said of her mother’s disappearance: ‘If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it’
Brian appeared several times in the video on his paddleboard as they chronicled their four-year voyage on YouTube
The final video, posted just four weeks ago, showed the couple taking an early-morning paddleboard trip along Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas, a location known as a ‘world-class boating destination.’
In the three-minute clip, Lynette filmed the pristine blue waters and waterfront homes while discussing the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in 2019, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded to hit the island chain.
Her husband appeared several times in the video as they paddled side by side, watching fish and turtles beneath them, with Lynette occasionally singing to herself.
At one point, the couple laughed as Brian navigated a narrow passage framed by two slanted trees, the branches and leaves brushing his face as he passed.
The video was just one of 12 journeys shared on their channel, including a video from the day they bought a new sailboat in 2023 – the same boat the pair were heading towards when Lynette fell into the water.
In the footage, the couple is seen leaving Rockport, Texas, after picking up their light-blue sailboat, preparing to take it back to Michigan on their first trip.
Lynette recorded the finished project after they painted the deck and completed last-minute fixes, captioning the segment: ‘The decks are done! We’re still married! Party time!’
Brief clips of their adventures – from gliding under Mississippi River locks and bridges to their first daring Gulf of Mexico crossing – were shared over the past three years with their 300 subscribers.
Another post, just over 30 seconds long, showed the couple heading out on the water for a grocery run together, loading several plastic bags and a case of beer onto the boat.
On Instagram, the Hookers shared their pit stops along the way, including waterfront bars, snorkeling, swimming, ice cream runs, live music, encounters with animals and boat upgrades like an electric cooktop and a separate air fryer.
In their final TikTok post, the couple sailed to Great Guana Cay.
But the couple’s blissful days on the water came to a sudden halt on Saturday night when Lynette and Brian set out for their yacht at roughly 7:30pm, riding in the 8-foot dinghy.
Lynette Hooker, 55, plunged into the waters of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas on Saturday while boating with her husband
The couple had been making their way back to their sailboat Soulmate in an 8ft dinghy when Lynette fell overboard
Brian claimed that while en route, rough waters tossed Lynette overboard into the darkness, taking the boat keys with her and causing the dinghy’s engine to shut off abruptly, authorities said, according to CNN.
‘Strong currents subsequently carried her away, and [Brian] lost sight of her,’ the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.
Brian told authorities that he last saw his wife making her way toward the shore, though whether she was wearing a lifejacket remains uncertain.
Without an engine, Brian navigated the boat through the night, reaching the marina at approximately 4am Sunday, where authorities were notified.
Bahamian and US authorities began a joint search-and-rescue operation, with the US Coast Guard deploying an aircraft to aid the effort, officials said.
For six hours on Sunday, police on Abaco, alongside the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and local fire and rescue teams, searched the surrounding waters but found no trace of the mother, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues, even as the case has been shifted to a recovery operation.
The Bahamas is currently under a Level 2 travel advisory, urging visitors to exercise increased caution due to crime and water-related risks.
The advisory cites violent crime – including armed robberies, burglaries, and sexual assaults – as well as limited boating regulation that has led to ‘injuries and deaths.’
