An emotional interview with the husband of a woman who disappeared after falling overboard in the Bahamas was abruptly halted when his lawyer stepped in.
Brian Hooker, 58, burst into tears during a vulnerable interview with CBS News after he was released from police custody on the island in connection with his missing wife, Lynette, 55.
“I won’t be able to stop looking,” Hooker shared with CBS, expressing his intention to reconnect with search and rescue teams to locate his missing wife.
Through tears and removing his glasses, he added, “I’m going to need someone with more authority to tell me to stop.”
Hooker confessed that he has avoided social media since the day before the tragic incident.
When questioned about the challenges he has faced since his wife vanished, Hooker struggled to hold back tears, prompting his lawyer, Terrel Butler, to intervene and request the interview’s conclusion.
Before the interview ended, Hooker was asked the question on everyone’s mind: Does he believe his wife is still alive?
Hooker regained his composure and said he believed she was. ‘I’ve been told that people have lasted in the Bahamas after falling overboard for days and even weeks,’ he began.
Brian Hooker (left) became emotional while speaking about his wife’s disappearance in an interview with CBS News, pictured above
Lynette Hooker, 55, (left) disappeared after she went overboard in the Bahamas on April 4. Her husband, Brian Hooker (right), told authorities that he attempted to save her and later called for help
In a televised interview, pictured above, Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler (right) directed the journalist to conclude his line of questioning after her client became visibly upset
‘There are so many islands, there are so many sandbars, little atolls and spits of land. Of course you think about alternatives to that, but I’m not really capable of just turning away from this.’
Lynette disappeared on April 4 when the couple set out in a small dinghy from the island of Elbow Key to their 50-ft yacht, Soulmate, anchored about a mile away.
Chaos soon erupted when Lynette was tipped overboard in high winds and took the kill-switch key attached to her, according to Hooker’s account of the events to the police.
Hooker told Bahamian authorities that he fought to reach her, but she was blown away from him.
He added that he battled for nearly eight hours with one paddle to reach shore in Marsh Harbor on the neighboring island of Great Abaco, ditching his dinghy near a boat yard and seeking help there.
Hooker was taken into custody four days later, but the Royal Bahamas Police Force announced on Monday that he was released without charges being filed.
‘I am happy to see that justice is really working in this country. They had no evidence and they had no choice but to release him,’ his lawyer said.
‘It’s unfortunate that they’ve had to exhaust the entire investigative period to come to the conclusion.’
Hooker was taken in for questioning by the Royal Bahamas Police Force after his wife, pictured above disappeared
He did not speak to reporters as he walked out of Bahamian police custody on Monday evening, surrounded by paparazzi, while his attorney replied ‘no comment’ to all questions about the case.
The American, from Onsted in southern Michigan, wore a white shirt and long black pants and spoke only to say ‘excuse me’ as he walked through the press pack.
Hooker was seen making a phone call to a family member in the police station moments before he left.
Royal Bahamas Police Assistant Commissioner Advardo Dames confirmed on Tuesday that Hooker is still under the microscope as a suspect in the case.
‘At this time Mr Hooker was interviewed and he was released from custody and the matter is still being investigated,’ Dames told the Daily Mail.
Dames also revealed that Hooker is free to leave the Bahamas, adding: ‘He has no restrictions on his travel.’
Police Commissioner Shawna Knowles noted that Hooker can still be extradited back for questioning at a later date if he does return to the US.
‘If he leaves the country, and we need to see him again, we do know that our US counterparts will assist us with that,’ Knowles told NBC Today.
Officials from the US Coast Guard have opened an investigation separate from the one being conducted by authorities in the Bahamas.
Lynette, pictured above in a social media post, reportedly had the kill-switch key attached to her when she fell overboard, according to Hooker
During the investigation, CBS obtained audio from a phone call on April 7 between Hooker and a friend, where he recalled the harrowing details of Lynette’s disappearance.
‘She basically just bounced off the dinghy in the middle of a little blow, like 20-something knot winds that popped up,’ Hooker said.
‘We weren’t wearing life jackets. It was sundown, and the sun set like basically 10 minutes after she fell over.
’The wind blew us apart so fast that I think, I think she tried to swim back to the sailboat, back to our sailboat which was probably, I don’t know, 1,000 yards or something. But the waves were three foot.
‘I yelled to her that I lost an oar, and then I threw the anchor out, anchored the dinghy, and just, yeah, I yelled. I couldn’t see her anymore because the moon had not risen yet.’
‘By the time I got the anchor set, I was probably a quarter to a half a mile away from her, and I decided that I had to go get help. But I could not get to the island, so I paddled.
‘And it was a cascade of failures, and it’s something I’m never going to forgive myself for. We stayed too long, we left too dark, all kinds of s—. No life jackets. I f—ing threw the dinghy out last— the anchor out last — instead of first. Can’t really explain it, you know?’
The couple, pictured above in a social media post, have been married for over two decades and frequently sail around the Caribbean
The Hookers have been married for more than 20 years and chronicled their adventures sailing around the Caribbean on their Sailing Hookers Facebook page.
They posted videos in 2023, showing the moment they purchased their boat, Soulmate, in the coastal town of Rockport, Texas, before cruising through the Gulf of Mexico from the port town of Kemah, Texas.
Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told NBC News that it is unlikely her mother would ‘just fall’ off the boat, saying she was an experienced sailor.
The couple has a contentious past, with both accusing each other of assault in 2015, according to a Kentwood, Michigan, police report obtained by NBC.
Hooker, who was intoxicated and bleeding from the nose, told police his wife had struck him multiple times in the face, the report said.
He told officers Lynette was also drunk. She was arrested and spent the night in jail. A warrant was denied because it wasn’t clear ‘who started the assault.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Hooker’s representation for additional comment.
