An ex-prosecutor raises the alarm on a boat that follows a trail in the case of a missing wife
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LAS VEGAS – A former federal prosecutor who wrote a book on homicides told Fox News Digital that the “crucial question” in the search for a missing American woman is why her husband's sailboat stopped transmitting location information the night she disappeared.
Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker left the beach in Hope Town in the Bahamas around 7:30 pm on April 4, Brian Hooker told authorities that rough water caused his wife to fall from their boat. Brian Hooker paddled to shore and arrived in Marsh Harbor around 4 a.m. on April 5, according to authorities.
The couple were heading back to their boat Soulmate, their retirement home, when Lynette fell overboard, Brian said. The couple often cruises in the US and the Caribbean, according to their social media pages.
Data obtained by Fox News Digital through the marine tracking company VesselFinder shows Soulmate's Automatic Identification System (AIS), which broadcasts the vessel's identification, speed and position, went black at 9:29 pm on April 4 and did not restart until 8:40 am the next day, a blackout of more than 11 hours.
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Brian Hooker leaves his hotel with attorney Terrell A. Butler in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 14, 2026. Hooker was released from police custody last night after being questioned about the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons of Fox News Digital)
Blaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker, previously told Fox News Digital that Brian returned to his boat with search and rescue officials on the morning of April 5. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker's disappearance.
Tad DiBiase, former federal prosecutor and author of “No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting and Winning Cases Where the Victim Is Missing,” told Fox News Digital that finding out how the tracking data was blacked out will be a key question for investigators.
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The vessel Soulmate docks at the US 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 returned to the US from the Bahamas by the Coast Guard. (Sourced by Fox News Digital)
“I believe there is evidence that the boat's tracking was closed at a very similar time to when it went missing. All of those things are very suspicious,” DiBiase said.
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DiBiase said that if he was the prosecutor being consulted on this case, he would like to see a few questions answered.
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Brian Hooker leaves the Central Police Station in Freeport, The Bahamas, on April 13, 2026, after being released from custody. He has been questioned about the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, who says she fell over their boat earlier this month. (Matthew Symons of Fox News Digital)
“I would like to know more about their relationship and I would like to make sure that the tracking system was turned off, when it was turned off, all that forensic evidence,” he said. “I'd like to make sure it's firm and clear what happened and where the boat was, as opposed to where he said the boat was.”
US authorities recently asked the Bahamian government for permission to search a new location in the Sea of Abaco for Lynette Hooker's remains after investigators found GPS data that allegedly contradicted what her husband told investigators the night she disappeared, CBS News first reported and sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.
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Lynette Hooker is missing after disappearing in the Bahamas. (Lynette Hooker/Facebook; Brian Hooker/Facebook)
A source in the Bahamas told Fox News Digital that the new search, if approved by Bahamian authorities, would focus on an area of the Sea of Abaco with water up to 25 meters deep. The renewed efforts are based on GPS data from Brian Hooker's phone, on which he was using a marine navigation app. It is said that the Huka boat visited the area, an American official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The Coast Guard seized the couple's boat, the Soulmate, in early May and took it to Fort Pierce, Florida, but it was recently moved to Fort Lauderdale, as authorities could not get it out of the water.
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US Coast Guard investigators search the vessel Soulmate docked at their station in Fort Pierce, Fla., May 13, 2026. The vessel belongs to Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker and was returned to the US from the Bahamas by the coast guard. (Sourced by Fox News Digital)
Brian Hooker's Michigan-based lawyer earlier asked Americans during an interview with ABC News to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would like to be treated, give him the benefit of the doubt, and consider that not all of us, or you, if you consider your relationship, the way you talk to each other, we all handle things in different ways,” said Crystal Marie Hauser.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Brian Hooker's attorney for comment.
