The daughter of a woman who vanished in the Bahamas after falling off a boat during a trip with her husband has suggested that her stepfather may have orchestrated the tragic incident.
Lynette Hooker, aged 55 from Onsted, Michigan, disappeared into the waters near the Abaco Islands on April 4. She was traveling with her husband, 59-year-old Brian Hooker, as they headed towards their boat in Elbow Cay.
Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, made a visit to the vessel where her mother and stepfather had been residing on April 17.
“When I first arrived, I sat on the boat and spoke to her as if she were still here,” Aylesworth revealed to Today.
“I said, ‘Hey Mom, I’m here. Wherever you are, I just want to talk to you and see you again,'” she shared emotionally.
According to her stepfather, they had departed Hope Town around 7:30 PM in an 8-foot dinghy.
He also told investigators that Lynette slipped and fell in poor weather while holding the key to the small boat, which caused the engine to shut off.
Brian was detained by the Royal Bahamas Police Force on April 8 and was released five days later. His attorney, Terrel Butler, said officials had no evidence against his client, according to Today.
Lynette Hooker, 55, went missing in the Bahamas after falling overboard during a boat ride with her husband on April 4
Her daughter, Karli Aylesworth, 28, shared harrowing details about her mother and stepfather’s relationship and also told NBC, ‘I feel like this was probably preplanned, if anything, like, it doesn’t seem like just some accident’
Lynette’s husband, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, told police his wife slipped and fell due to poor weather while traveling on a dinghy to get to their yacht
However, Aylesworth is skeptical of Brian’s account of what happened to her mother.
‘I hope this was just a freak accident, but I just have a hard time believing it at the moment,’ Aylesworth told NBC News on April 9. ‘I just want to know the truth.’
‘I feel like this was probably preplanned, if anything, like, it doesn’t seem like just some accident,’ she added.
The stepfather remains a suspect in the case, Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles told NBC News.
His lawyers told the outlet in a statement that Brian ‘categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing and in particular the allegations recently made by Karli Aylesworth.’
He has left the Bahamas to take care of his sick mother but plans to return.
Aylesworth also previously opened up about her mother and stepfather’s relationship.
‘There is a history of him choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard,’ she told Fox News.
‘So, the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there’s more to the story.’
Aylesworth said there is a history of her stepfather threatening to throw Lynette overboard and believes the circumstances surrounding her mother’s disappearance are suspicious
Aylesworth shared a voicemail Hooker sent her with CBS News, in which he spoke about throwing a flotation device to Lynette after she fell
‘There has also been a history of domestic violence in that relationship, so I do believe something might have happened to her.’
Aylesworth explained why she felt the circumstances surrounding her mother’s disappearance were suspicious and called for a full investigation into what happened.
‘It just doesn’t add up. My mom is very fit and strong. She’s a good swimmer, like, why was she swimming away from the boat?’ she said.
‘I’m confused why she has the keys because she never drove the dinghy. It was always Brian. So, the story just doesn’t add up right now.’
Aylesworth shared a voicemail Brian sent her with CBS News, in which he spoke about throwing a flotation device to Lynette after she fell.
‘Hello, honey, it’s Dad. I just got a call from Hope Town Search and Rescue, and they found the flotation device that I threw to Mom when she fell overboard,’ he told his stepdaughter.
Brian broke his silence in an April 8 Facebook post, writing that he is ‘heartbroken’ over Lynette’s disappearance.
‘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.’
On April 16, Aylesworth said she had not heard from Brian since his release from custody.
