EXCLUSIVE TO FOX: Brian Hooker, whose wife went missing while they were in the Bahamas, reportedly remained on his sailboat for a full day following her disappearance, according to a friend.
Hooker recounted to authorities that on the evening of April 4, around 7:30 p.m., his wife Lynette fell from their dinghy due to turbulent waters as they departed Hope Town in the Bahamas. He managed to paddle to shore, reaching Marsh Harbour by approximately 4 a.m. on April 5.
The couple, who live aboard their sailboat during retirement and often travel through the U.S. and Caribbean, were returning to their vessel when Lynette fell overboard.
Brian Hooker’s friend, Blaine Stevenson, shared with Fox News Digital that after an initial search lasting three to four hours with rescue teams on April 5, Hooker returned to his sailboat, where he remained for about 24 hours.
In a related development, Brian Hooker was seen leaving Central Police Station in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 13, 2023, after being questioned about Lynette’s disappearance. He has consistently stated she fell overboard from their dinghy earlier in the month.
Stevenson explained, “The incident occurred on Saturday evening at 7:30. Brian reached shore by 4 a.m., joined the search and rescue for a few hours, and then was returned to his boat. He stayed on the boat for nearly a day until his dinghy was brought back by the rescue team.”
“At no point did he really look at the situation and give anybody any more details than he had at the beginning when supposedly he was in shock,” Stevenson said.
Brian and Lynette Hooker have been married for around 25 years, family members said. (The Sailing Hookers/YouTube and Instagram)
Brian Hooker would go on to stay at the Conch Inn in Marsh Harbour on April 6, Stevenson said, where he stayed until he was arrested on April 8 by Bahamian authorities. He was released from jail on April 13 without being charged.
Stevenson also said he’s shocked Brian Hooker didn’t make more of an effort to find his wife.
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)
“Even if he accepts the fact that his wife is gone — does he not want closure? Does he not want redemption?” Stevenson said.
Sometime between May 8 and 10, Brian and Lynette Hooker’s sailboat, Soulmate, was seized, a source familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital. Soulmate was seized 40 nautical miles off the coast of Melbourne, Florida, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
In a news release, the Coast Guard said the seizure was part of a “complex surveillance and interdiction operation.” The sailboat was taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce, where it is being processed for potential evidence, the source said.
“The vessel Soulmate is currently in the custody of CGIS as part of an active criminal investigation,” the Coast Guard said.
Brian Hooker boards a plane to Nassau from Grand Bahama Freeport Airport in The Bahamas on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, accompanied by his lawyer, Terell A. Butler. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans 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.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hauser for comment.
