Months after Lynette Hooker disappeared in the Bahamas, her mother is publicly questioning the account given by Hooker’s husband, Brian Hooker, about the night she was last seen.
Lynette Hooker, a Michigan resident, was reported missing on April 4 while vacationing with her husband. Authorities said the couple had been boating near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands when she vanished.
Brian Hooker has said his wife fell out of a dinghy after dark and was carried away by the current as they were heading back to their sailboat, named “Soulmate.”
Lynette’s body has not been found.
Her mother, Darlene Hamlett, now says she believes Lynette did return to “Soulmate” before disappearing.
“She made it back to the boat, and there was foul play,” Hamlett told Fox News Digital.
Hamlett did not provide details about why she believes that, saying there are limits on what she can discuss publicly.
“As a mother, it’s taking longer than I would anticipate, but that’s what the Coast Guard told me to say. That’s all I’m saying,” she said.
The US Coast Guard Investigative Service declined to comment on Hamlett’s claims, telling Fox News Digital, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigation.”
Fox News Digital also reached out to Brian Hooker’s attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Hamlett’s comments come after US Coast Guard investigators traveled to the Bahamas last month to conduct dive searches in the Sea of Abaco and land searches with the assistance of a cadaver dog in an effort to locate Lynette.
Investigators also returned to the United States with the dinghy Lynette was last known to be on.
It is expected to undergo further forensic examination for potential evidence.
Brian Hooker initially told investigators he and his wife were on a nighttime boat ride when Lynette fell from a small dinghy and was swept away.
According to authorities, Brian said he was forced to paddle back to shore because Lynette was carrying the dinghy’s ignition key when she went overboard.
After Lynette disappeared, 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.”
After being questioned and released by Bahamian authorities, Brian Hooker returned to the United States and has not been seen or heard from publicly.
He has not been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing.
