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A close associate of Brian Hooker claims that on the night his wife vanished, Hooker had access to a $33,000 high-tech thermal camera on his boat but did not utilize it in the search for her.

On the evening of April 4, after departing from Hope Town in the Bahamas at approximately 7:30 p.m., Brian Hooker reported that his wife was swept off their dinghy by turbulent waters. He managed to paddle back to shore, reaching Marsh Harbour by 4 a.m. on April 5, as per the authorities.

The couple was en route to their sailboat, which doubles as their permanent home after retirement, when Lynette seemingly fell overboard. Their social media profiles reveal their penchant for sailing around the U.S. and Caribbean.

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Image: On the left, Brian Hooker stands next to his sailboat, Soulmate. (Photo credits: Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital and the Coast Guard)

Daniel Danforth, a friend of the couple, shared with Fox News Digital that the sailboat, “Soulmate,” is equipped with a thermal camera that Brian Hooker could have employed to aid in locating his wife.

COAST GUARD SEIZES BRIAN HOOKER’S SAILBOAT AS IT LEAVES BAHAMAS AFTER WIFE’S DISAPPEARANCE: REPORT

“One of the neat features that they had on their boat that most boats don’t have is called a FLIR system. And it’s a forward-looking infrared. And what it is a camera system that’s not only night vision, but it’s also thermally operated that it can pick up heat signatures and stuff,” Danforth said.

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U.S. Coast Guard investigators search the boat Soulmate docked at their station in Fort Pierce, Fla., on May 13, 2026. The vessel belongs to Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker and was brought back to the U.S. from The Bahamas by the Coast Guard. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

Danforth said he met the Hookers in 2023 while they were in New Orleans, Louisiana, and recalled an interaction with Brian Hooker where he said the thermal camera system kept them safe.

“He said, well, ‘don’t worry while we’re on the dock, we’re gonna be completely safe. This thing has auto-detect that you can set the temperature.’ So like he said that night, as an example, he set the temperatures on it to 86 degrees. Well, then you can see my wife walking down the dock and the camera automatically started tracking her going back to our boat, just because it was strictly off the heat signature,” Danforth said.

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Danforth, who lives on a sailboat with his wife, said the camera system “would have been my first choice like if i was trying to rescue somebody.”

In a text message sent to Danforth on April 6, Brian Hooker said Lynette “swam towards the sailboat” after she fell off.

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Danforth said Brian Hooker messaged him on Facebook after Lynette went missing. (Daniel Danforth)

Danforth said he told the Coast Guard about the thermal camera in early May, before the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) seized Soulmate sometime between May 8 to 10. The Coast Guard has opened an active criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.

COAST GUARD OPENS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO MISSING WOMAN LAST SEEN IN BAHAMAS

Lynette Hooker and Brian Hooker are seen in a picture taken in 2023 on a small boat. (John Waters)

“I told them about it and they were very interested. That was the first they had heard about that system being on the boat. And so they told me that they were going to file for a warrant of seizure for that because it has a serial number,” Danforth said, adding they might be able to recover data from the camera.

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Brian Hooker left the island for the U.S. to tend to his ill mother, his Bahamian attorney previously said after he was in police custody for five days. He hasn’t been charged with a crime.

His Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans to give him the benefit of the doubt in an interview with ABC News.

Lynette Hooker, a 56-year-old American woman, disappeared after going overboard during a boat trip in the Bahamas, according to local officials. ((Brian Hooker/Facebook))

“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.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Hooker’s attorney and the Coast Guard for comment.

It seems unlikely that Senate Democrats will permit a vote on the Protect Kids Act, recently approved by the House. The hesitation stems from the contentious issue of parental rights in the context of gender identity discussions in schools.

The proposed legislation mandates that schools obtain explicit parental consent before initiating any social transition for a child. Failure to comply would result in the loss of federal funding.

In a notable move, eight House Democrats, including Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez from Washington, voted in favor of the bill. However, it is anticipated that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will employ the filibuster to prevent a vote, thereby protecting fellow Democrats from having to publicly oppose parental rights.

The fact that the practice of social transitioning has gained a foothold in schools is alarming to many. This process involves educators altering a child’s pronouns, allowing them to dress according to a different gender identity, and similar actions.

Critics argue that such measures can cause significant psychological harm, particularly in elementary school environments. At such a young age, children’s expressions of gender identity can be as fleeting as their claims of being fictional characters.

It’s outrageous that schools hide these transitions from families — and worse that the secrecy is often ordered by legislatures, as in California and New York. 

The rationale: If evil, bigoted parents know their 6-year-old son is wearing a dress and claiming to be a girl, they might harm the kid. 

This perversely treats all parents as likely abusers, as well as excluding the likely reality that “affirming the identity” is bad for the child.

Neither schools nor states should be in business of imposing woke nostrums, let alone behind parents’ backs. 

The social-transition craze was always political, a bid to co-opt the classroom into rank indoctrination.

Parents’ furious effort to end this madness brought lawsuits across the country; in Mirabelli v. Bonta, the Supreme Court recently found that California cannot order schools to lie to parents about their kids’ mental health; the Protect Kids Act is simply an effort to ensure that principle’s upheld nationwide.

Most of the nation has rejected “gender madness,” but it still rules the Democratic Party — so Schumer and other national Democrats are left doing their best to again hide their own extremism.

In a poignant return to social media, Bethany Funke, a survivor of Bryan Kohberger’s brutal attack inside a student residence, has resurfaced online. This marks her first public appearance since the tragic events unfolded.

Funke, who is 23 years old, endured the horrific incident that claimed the lives of her friends Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in Moscow, Idaho, back in November 2022. Her strength and resilience are a testament to her character as she navigates life after the tragedy.

Recently, Funke shared a glimpse into her healing journey through a new TikTok post. Donning a teal dress and a cross necklace, she revealed that painting has become her newfound passion. The inspiration for her artistic endeavor comes from the renowned painter and instructor Bob Ross, whose calming presence continues to influence aspiring artists worldwide.

In the video, she showcased a serene sunset river landscape to her 17,000 followers, with the soothing tones of Olivia Dean’s music providing a fitting soundtrack. This creative expression serves as a therapeutic outlet for Funke, allowing her to process her experiences and perhaps find some solace.

This video holds special significance as it is the sole post on her TikTok account under her name. Notably, her late friends, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Mogen, remain connected through their following of her page, a silent tribute to the enduring bond they shared.

Funke has remained incognito since the killings, nominating a friend of hers to issue an impact statement at Kohberger’s sentencing last year. 

Only Funke and fellow roommate Dylan Mortensen survived the murders, with Mortensen waking up to see a man dressed in black stalking the halls of the home.

The two desperately tried to call and text their friends but got no response, Mortensen made her way to Funke’s room where they stayed until morning.

In a new post to her TikTok page Funke shared that she has taken up oil painting after the killings

Left to right: Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders) Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke

Around eight hours later, after the terrified students still could not get in touch with their friends, they called friends over to the home and the bloodbath was discovered.

Kohberger was arrested around six weeks later during a raid on his parents’ home in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, where he had returned for the holidays.

Autopsy findings recently released have since laid bare the full horror of the attack, revealing he stabbed his victims over 150 times within 15 minutes.

He stabbed Goncalves at least 38 times, including 24 stab and incised wounds to her scalp face and neck, as well as 11 to the chest and three to her upper extremities.   

She also suffered punctures to the skull, injuries to her teeth and tongue, perforations of the subclavian artery and vein, and internal bleeding into the chest cavities.

Mogen sustained 28 stab wounds, including 13 wounds to the scalp, face and neck, and 10 incised wounds to the upper extremities, and five stab wounds to the chest.

Kernodle was then stabbed 67 times inside her bedroom before Kohberger killed Chapin in his sleep, according to the autopsy report.

She had 25 wounds to the upper extremities, 23 stab to the scalp, face and neck, seven stab wounds to the chest and four to the abdomen, three to the back, and five to the lower extremities.

Pictured: (L-R) Dylan Mortenson, Xana Kernodle, Bethany Funke, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen

Kohberger is seen here at his sentencing hearing in July of last year

The student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where the murders were committed

She also suffered punctures to the skull, perforations of the jugular vein, heart, lung and pulmonary blood vessels, hemorrhage into the chest cavities, wounds extending into the bones of the right hand, and scrapes and bruises to the face, torso and extremities.

Despite Chapin likely being the last victim, he had the fewest stab wounds, sustaining 17 in all: six incised wounds to the upper extremities; six stab and incised wounds to the lower extremities; four stab and incised wounds to the scalp, face and neck; and one stab wound to the upper chest; along with perforations of the jugular vein, subclavian vein and subclavian artery.

For more than two years, Kohberger fought the charges. Then, weeks before his trial, he changed his plea, pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary on July 2.

The bombshell plea hearing came after he struck a controversial deal with prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table.

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in an emotional hearing in Boise, Idaho, on July 23. Kohberger also waived his right to appeal.

The killer refused to speak at his sentencing and has never revealed his motive. No connection has ever been found between him and any of his victims. 

Kohberger is now being held in solitary confinement inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution where he will see out his dying days.