Several months after Lynette Hooker disappeared in the Bahamas, her mother is questioning the account given by Lynette’s husband, Brian Hooker, regarding the events of that fateful evening.
Lynette Hooker, who hailed from Michigan, went missing during an April vacation in the Bahamas with her husband. She was last seen on April 4 when the couple was on a boating excursion near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands.
According to Brian Hooker, his wife Lynette fell off their small boat at night and was carried away by the ocean’s currents as they were heading towards their sailboat, named “Soulmate.”
The disappearance of Lynette Hooker occurred while she and her husband were on vacation in the Bahamas with their boat, Soulmate. (Matthew Symons for News Media; Brian Hooker/Facebook)
To this day, Lynette’s body has not been found.
Now, Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, says she believes her daughter made it back to “Soulmate” before she vanished.
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 brought back to the U.S. from the Bahamas by the Coast Guard. (Obtained by News Media)
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“She made it back to the boat, and there was foul play,” Hamlett told News Media.
MISSING AMERICAN’S HUSBAND HAD $33K THERMAL CAMERA ON BOAT THAT NIGHT AND NEVER USED IT, FRIEND SAYS
The U.S. Coast Guard retrieved the dinghy used by Brian and Lynette Hooker the night she vanished in the Bahamas. (Obtained by News Media)
Hamlett did not elaborate on how she reached that conclusion but said she has been limited in what she can publicly discuss.
“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 U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service declined to comment on Hamlett’s claims, telling News Media, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigation.”
Members of the US Coast Guard and The Royal Bahaman Police Force arrive at The Abaco Inn in Hope Town. They are in the area to conduct a search in relation to the missing American boater, Lynette Hooker, who was last seen alive in early April. (AJ Skuy for News Media)
News Media also reached out to Brian Hooker’s attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Hamlett’s comments come after U.S. 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.
Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in this undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
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.
Brian Hooker leaves the Central Police Station after being released from custody, in Freeport, The Bahamas, April 13, 2026. Hooker, who is accompanied by his lawyer, Terrel A. Butler, was being questioned about the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, who he says fell overboard from their dinghy earlier this month. (Matthew Symons for News Media)
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.”
Lynette Hooker and Brian Hooker in 2023 on a small boat. (John Waters)
“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.