A maritime law expert has suggested that even without discovering a body, federal authorities might still be able to file charges in the mysterious disappearance of Lynette Hooker in the Bahamas.
Recent photographs captured by Fox News Digital reveal that parts of the sailboat, Soulmate, belonging to Lynette and her husband Brian Hooker, are cordoned off with crime tape. The vessel was docked at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Florida, after reportedly being seized over the past weekend.
Sources indicate that investigators began examining evidence found aboard the sailboat on Tuesday, a process that seems to have extended into Wednesday.
Images show U.S. Coast Guard investigators meticulously searching the Soulmate at their Fort Pierce, Florida station as of May 13, 2026. This boat, owned by Brian Hooker and his missing wife, was returned to the U.S. from the Bahamas by the Coast Guard.
Brian Hooker informed Bahamian authorities that his wife had fallen off a dinghy around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, while departing from shore at Hope Town, claiming she also took the ignition key with her. He reportedly reached a marina in Marsh Harbour by 4 a.m. on April 5, after paddling to shore—approximately eight hours after Lynette went overboard. Despite extensive searches over several weeks, Lynette Hooker remains missing.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed against Brian Hooker. The Coast Guard Investigative Service continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.
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)
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)
Kenneth Engerrand, an adjunct professor of maritime law at the University of Houston Law Center and shareholder in the Brown Sims law firm, told Fox News Digital that even if investigators aren’t able to find Lynette Hooker’s body, the Coast Guard’s investigation could still result in criminal charges.
“They can’t file charges without substantial evidence, but that’s why they’re on the boat. They’re looking for evidence. And what will have to happen is the Coast Guard can develop the evidence that’s necessary in conjunction with the U.S. attorney in Florida,” he said. “Sometimes it takes more effort to develop evidence, and this is the case where that’s the situation because you don’t have the body.“
“That’s a much more difficult process without the body, but it’s not impossible to do,” Engerrand said.
Engerrand said that Coast Guard investigators didn’t need a warrant to search Brian and Lynette Hooker’s sailboat since it’s American-flagged.
Brian Hooker visits the Central Police Station in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 14, 2026, to retrieve his wedding ring and watch with his lawyer, Terrel A. Butler. Hooker was released from jail the previous night after police questioned him about the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
“They have a specific federal statute for that, and the courts have upheld that, with just a few limitations and so the Coast Guard can conduct a complete investigation with respect to the boat and activity that occurred on the boat under that statute that’s valid until they get to the point where they are doing a focused criminal investigation. They don’t need a warrant for any of that and once they get to the point of focusing on him, all they need is reasonable suspicion,” he said. “They don’t even have to have a warrant then to do investigation in connection with activity on a vessel that is an American flagged vessel.“
Brian Hooker was detained for five days by Bahamian police after his wife disappeared, but wasn’t charged. His Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“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.
Brian Hooker left the island for the U.S. to tend to his “very ill” mother, his Bahamian attorney previously said.
After Lynette Hooker went missing, Brian said in a Facebook post that he was “heartbroken.”
“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.”
