The daughter of a missing American woman in the Bahamas believes Brian Hooker is using his mother’s illness as a pretext to exit the country following his recent five-day imprisonment in Freeport.

On Friday, Karli Aylesworth expressed to Fox News Digital that Hooker’s mother has been “terminally ill for some time.” Despite initially pledging to stay in the Bahamas to search for his missing wife, Lynette—Karli’s mother—Hooker unexpectedly departed the island on Wednesday.

After spending five days in a Bahamian jail, Hooker was released Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he assured media outlets of his commitment to remain in the Bahamas to find his wife.

“His primary focus is the search for his wife,” Hooker’s lawyer, Terrel Butler, stated to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “As long as he is able to stay in the Bahamas, he intends to do so.”

Karli Aylesworth, accompanied by her partner Steven, arrived in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, on Thursday, April 16, 2025. Karli is the daughter of the missing American, Lynette Hooker. (Photo by Matthew Symons for NY Post)

However, just a day later, Hooker altered his plans and left the Bahamas.

“Following his release from custody without charge, Mr. Hooker is now facing another emergency. In addition to the trauma of his wife of 25 years being missing, Mr. Hooker has received urgent word of his mother’s grave illness,” Butler told NBC News Wednesday afternoon. 

“He has traveled to [the] United States of America to be at her bedside during this critical time.”

Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in an undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)

Butler did not say where in the U.S. Hooker was going, but a source familiar with the case told Fox News Digital he landed in Atlanta.

Aylesworth, who arrived in the Bahamas Thursday, has been critical of her stepfather since her mother Lynette went missing.

“I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mom at sea and cries on camera saying he’ll never stop searching, then leaves the next day,” Aylesworth told the New York Post upon her arrival in the town of Marsh Harbour, close to where her mother went missing.

The “Soulmate,” owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, April 16, 2025. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)

Hooker abandoned the couple’s 40-foot sailboat, “Soulmate,” anchored near a marina in Marsh Harbour.

The New York Post snapped close-up photos of the idle boat.

Immediately after Lynette’s disappearance, Aylesworth told Fox News Digital she was aware of “prior issues” with Brian’s behavior.

The inside of “Soulmate,” the boat owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, April 16, 2025. Inside the boat are dumbbells and various miscellaneous items. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)

“There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation. If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,” Aylesworth said. “However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.”

She also told “Fox and Friends” that something “doesn’t add up” with her mother’s disappearance, and accused Brian of having a “history of domestic violence” and anger issues.

Brian Hooker stops by the Central Police Station to pick up his wedding ring and watch with his lawyer, Terrel A. Butler in Freeport, Bahamas, Tuesday, April 14, 2026.  (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

Hooker says Lynette’s disappearance was an accident caused by high wind and rough seas. The pair left The Abaco Inn bar on Elbow Cay in their dinghy at dusk on April 4, headed to their anchored sailboat just off the cay’s western coast. The ride was a short one, but Brian said Lynette fell overboard in the choppy waters.

He has always maintained that he is innocent of wrongdoing, and has not been charged with a crime.

He spent five days in jail — the maximum allowable under Bahamian law — while police investigated. That investigation remains ongoing despite his release.