Investigators from the United States are gearing up to search a new location in 25-foot-deep waters off the Bahamas, guided by crucial data extracted from Brian Hooker’s phone. This development is part of the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Lynette Hooker, according to sources who spoke with Fox News Digital.
The couple had set off from Hope Town in the Bahamas on the evening of April 4. Brian Hooker initially reported to local authorities that his wife had been swept off their dinghy due to turbulent seas. However, GPS data retrieved from his phone suggests inconsistencies in his account, sources involved in the investigation revealed to Fox News Digital.
These inconsistencies have spurred U.S. federal authorities to request clearance from Bahamian officials to conduct a search in a previously unexplored section of the Sea of Abaco, where waters reach depths of 25 feet, according to the same sources.
MYSTERY IN THE BAHAMAS: A TIMELINE OF LYNETTE HOOKER’S DISAPPEARANCE AND HER HUSBAND’S ARREST
Brian Hooker, along with his sailboat named Soulmate, is at the center of this investigation. The authorities have accessed GPS data from a marine navigation application used by the Hookers during their voyage, providing new leads in the search for Lynette, the sources indicated.
Authorities obtained data from Brian Hooker’s phone, specifically GPS data from a marine navigation app that was used while the couple was on the dinghy, the sources said.
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The couple was headed back to their sailboat, the Soulmate, their full-time home in retirement, when Lynette Hooker fell overboard, the husband told Bahamian authorities. They frequently sail around the U.S. and Caribbean, according to their social media pages.
Karli Aylesworth, Lynette Hooker’s daughter, told Fox News Digital that the Coast Guard has asked her family to submit DNA samples to help with their investigation.
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U.S. Coast Guard investigators search the boat Soulmate, docked at their station in Fort Pierce, Fla., on May 13, 2026. The vessel belongs to Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker and was brought back to the U.S. from the Bahamas by the Coast Guard. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The Coast Guard seized the Soulmate in early May and took it to Fort Pierce, Florida, but it was recently moved to Fort Lauderdale, as authorities couldn’t pull it from the water.
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Brian Hooker was detained for five days by Bahamian police after his wife disappeared, but wasn’t charged.
Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney asked Americans in an earlier interview to give him the benefit of the doubt in an interview with ABC News.
“I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways,” Crystal Marie Hauser said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Coast Guard and Hauser for comment.
