“This is not a matter that has been closed,” said Nicole Parker, a Fox News contributor and former FBI special agent.
Parker was discussing the mystery that continues to grip the public: Where is Lynette Hooker?
Six months have passed since the 55-year-old Michigan mother disappeared during a sailing trip in the Bahamas with her husband.
Hooker has not been seen or heard from since April 4.
Her husband, Brian, told investigators that Lynette “went overboard” from a dinghy in Hope Town after the couple went out for drinks that evening. He said they were returning to their sailboat, the “Soulmate,” at the time.
Bahamian authorities initially detained and questioned Brian before releasing him. He has not been charged and has not been accused of wrongdoing.
“The fact that the public doesn’t see exactly what is happening does not mean there is no activity behind the scenes,” Parker said.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service remains actively involved in the investigation. In May, the agency seized the couple’s boat, “Soulmate.”
In early June, investigators sent divers to search the area for evidence of Lynette. Agents later returned to the United States with the Hookers’ dinghy, which was submitted to a forensic laboratory for examination.
“Some evidence was sent to the FBI laboratory and to Quantico for examination,” Parker said, noting that the analysis “takes time.”
Investigators, she added, are “trying to reconstruct a potential crime scene that occurred in the waters.”
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Parker previously served as the FBI’s crimes-on-the-high-seas coordinator, giving her firsthand knowledge of how frustrating lengthy maritime investigations can be.
“There were times when I was an investigator and wanted things to move faster. I wanted results and wanted action, but cases like these take time,” she said.
In July, Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, publicly said she believes her daughter returned to “Soulmate” before disappearing.
“She made it back to the boat, and there was foul play,” Hamlett told Fox News Digital. She did not explain how she reached that conclusion, but said the Coast Guard has restricted what she is able to discuss publicly.
“Remember, there was no one else on the water with them,” Parker said.
She emphasized that the limited information released publicly “doesn’t mean that there isn’t work going on behind the scenes.”
As investigators continue searching for answers in Lynette’s disappearance, Parker said authorities are working around the clock.
“They’re doing everything they can to bring answers. At the end of the day, that’s what Lynette deserves.”
Brian now appears to be living a quiet life at his mother’s home in Citrus Heights, California, northeast of Sacramento.
Fox News Digital spotted Hooker walking dogs, chatting with neighbors, making trips to a local pharmacy, and even collecting neighbors’ trash items up and down the street.
He has not made any recent public statements about his wife’s disappearance.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Brian Hooker’s attorney for comment. The FBI and Coast Guard declined to comment.
