An ex-federal prosecutor, known for his expertise in “no-body” murder investigations, highlighted a pivotal issue in the case of a missing American woman: the unexplained cessation of her husband’s sailboat’s location broadcasts on the night she vanished. This insight was shared with Fox News Digital.
Brian and Lynette Hooker embarked from Hope Town in the Bahamas around 7:30 p.m. on April 4. Brian reportedly informed authorities that his wife was swept off their dinghy by turbulent waters. He subsequently paddled to Marsh Harbour, reaching the shore at approximately 4 a.m. on April 5, according to officials.
The Hookers were returning to their sailboat, Soulmate, which serves as their permanent residence during retirement, when Lynette allegedly went overboard. Their social media profiles reveal that the couple often sails through the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Fox News Digital acquired information from VesselFinder, a marine tracking firm, which indicates that the Soulmate’s Automatic Identification System (AIS)—responsible for signaling the vessel’s identification, speed, and location—ceased functioning at 9:29 p.m. on April 4. The system did not reactivate until 8:40 a.m. on April 5, resulting in an outage lasting more than 11 hours.
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Brian Hooker was spotted departing a Freeport hotel in the Bahamas on April 14, 2026, alongside his attorney, Terell A. Butler. He had been released from police custody the night before, following an interrogation concerning his wife, Lynette Hooker’s, disappearance. (Photo courtesy of Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
Blaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker’s, previously told Fox News Digital that Brian returned to his sailboat with search and rescue officials on the morning of April 5. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.
Tad DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor and author of the book “No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing,” told Fox News Digital that finding out how the tracking data went dark will be a key question for investigators.
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The boat Soulmate is docked at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Fla., on May 13, 2026. The vessel, owned by Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker, was reportedly brought back to the U.S. from The Bahamas by the Coast Guard. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“I believe there’s evidence that the tracking of the boat was turned off at a time that closely parallels around the time that she went missing. All of those things are highly suspicious,” DiBiase said.
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DiBiase said if he were a prosecutor being consulted on this case, he’d want to see a few questions answered.
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Brian Hooker leaves Central Police Station in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 13, 2026, after being released from custody. He was questioned about the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, who he says fell overboard from their dinghy earlier this month. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
“I’d wanna know a lot more about their relationship and then I would want to be very certain that the tracking system was turned off, what time it was turned off, all of that kind of forensic evidence,” he said. “I’d want to make sure that it was very solid and very clear what happened and what the position of the boat was, as opposed to where he said the boat was.”
U.S. authorities recently asked the Bahamian government for clearance to search a new area in the Sea of Abaco for Lynette Hooker’s remains after investigators found GPS data that allegedly contradicted what her husband told investigators on the night she disappeared, CBS News first reported and sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.
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Lynette Hooker is missing after disappearing in the Bahamas. (Lynette Hooker/Facebook; Brian Hooker/Facebook)
A source in the Bahamas told Fox News Digital that the new search, if approved by Bahamian authorities, will focus on an area of the Sea of Abaco with waters reaching 25-foot depths. The renewed efforts are based on GPS data from Brian Hooker’s phone, in which he was using a marine navigation app. The Hookers’ dinghy allegedly visited the same area, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The Coast Guard seized the couple’s sailboat, 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.
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)
Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans during an interview with ABC News 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.
Fox News Digital reached out to Brian Hooker’s lawyer for comment.
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