A companion of Brian Hooker has shared that a recorded phone conversation made shortly after Lynette Hooker’s disappearance implies that Brian was actually in the water with her during the incident, a detail that contradicts his previous account.
According to Brian’s statement to the authorities, he and Lynette departed from Hope Town in the Bahamas around 7:30 p.m. on April 4. During this voyage, Brian claimed that turbulent waters caused Lynette to fall off their dinghy. He recounted paddling to the safety of Marsh Harbour, where he arrived at approximately 4 a.m. on April 5.
The couple was en route back to their sailboat, Soulmate, which served as their home during retirement, when tragedy struck. Their adventurous lifestyle was documented on social media, showcasing their frequent sailing trips around the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Brian Hooker was seen leaving the Central Police Station in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 13, 2026, after being questioned regarding his wife’s disappearance. He maintains that Lynette fell overboard earlier in the month. (Credit: Matthew Symons for News Media)
Two days following Lynette’s disappearance, Brian reached out to a fellow sailor, Blaine Stevenson. Stevenson later told News Media that a portion of their conversation seemed to suggest that Brian was in the water that night, a claim that challenges his initial story of remaining in the dinghy as Lynette was swept away.
Lynette Hooker and Brian Hooker seen in a picture taken in 2023 on a small boat. (John Waters)
“I mean she’s a regular swimmer, not like a athlete or anything, but she’s f—— determined, and she was hit with a flare pistol I had slid down one of the Sponsons down towards the stern and the dinghy. I took so many waves over the dingy. I bailed about five or six times. I had to bail out the cockpit, but the the inside also got wet and so, and the dinghy key was not attached to me, you know, so when we were f—— around trying to get back in the boat,” Hooker said on the call.
Divers with the Coast Guard Investigative Service search for clues in the search for missing woman Lynette Hooker. (Petty Officer 1st Class Riley Perkofski)
On the same call, on several instances Brian Hooker said he was inside the dinghy.
“The waves were three foot and I was trying to ship the oars and one of the pins on the oars broke and that f—– dropped over the side and I was yelling for her the whole time and I yelled to her that I lost the oar and I threw the anchor out and anchored the dinghy. And just yeah I yelled I couldn’t see her anymore…the moon has not risen yet. And the waves were doing their thing and you know, you I saw her I think twice I threw her a flotation cushion that we used to sit on the dingy, you know right after she went in, but I didn’t I couldn’t tell if she got it or not.”
Kenneth Engerrand, an adjunct professor of maritime law at the University of Houston Law Center and shareholder in the Brown Sims law firm, told News Media that Brian Hooker’s story is “inconsistent” and said the case is “getting more damning by the minute.”
“He’s saying they were in water, but at the same time, he’s bailing. And at the time, she’s quickly, immediately away from him by the waves and the wind and whatnot. Everything about this is inconsistent,” Engerrand said.
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 News Media)
“He’s telling five different stories, and none of them are consistent. So it’s as if he’s just making stuff up as he goes,” he added.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services concluded their four-day renewed search for Lynette Hooker’s body on Monday after GPS data from Brian Hooker’s phone obtained by authorities allegedly shows a discrepancy between what he first told law enforcement, sources familiar with the investigation told News Media. During their renewed search, the Coast Guard took possession of the dinghy.
Lynette Hooker disappeared after going overboard during a boat trip in the Bahamas, according to local officials. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
That discrepancy prompted federal U.S. authorities to seek permission from Bahamian authorities to search a new area in the Sea of Abaco with 25-foot-deep waters, the sources added. Investigators are treating the case as a homicide, according to a U.S. official.
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.
News Media reached out to Hauser for comment.