Police arrest man, 59, after US woman in Bahamas vanished from boat
A 59-year-old man has been arrested in the Bahamas after Michigan native Lynette Hooker vanished while on a sailing expedition with her husband, who said that she had fallen overboard.
Authorities in the Bahamas did not release the name of the man they arrested on Wednesday, after a four-day investigation into what had happened to Hooker, 55, after allegedly falling off an 8ft dinghy and being swept out to sea by strong currents.
Hooker had been living her retirement dream with husband Brian of sailing a yacht around the Caribbean, stopping off at Hope Town's Abaco Inn on Saturday, April 4, with the pair leaving the area after 7.30pm.
With darkness descending, the Hookers set off for their yacht in nearby Elbow Cay using the dinghy, but Brian said she had fallen off this smaller boat with the ignition key in her pocket, before the current dragged her out to sea.
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Brian said he then paddled back to Marsh Harbor in the dark, reporting his wife missing at 4am on Sunday.
In a statement to CBS at the time, he said: "I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused by beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas.
"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."
However, Lynette's daughter, from a previous relationship, has raised her doubts about this version of events surrounding her mother's disappearance.
Karli Aylesworth told CBS yesterday that her mom was a proficient sailor and swimmer, with more than 10 years of experience navigating the seas. Before the 59-year-old man was arrested, she urged authorities to investigate and raised a number of Brian's claims that did not make sense to her.
Aylesworth said: "For one, I don't understand how she got the key. Brian's always driving. So he basically is in charge of the key. So the fact that my mom had it doesn't make any sense."
She also shared a voicemail that her mom's husband had left her in the wake of the tragic disappearance, where he told her that a flotation device had been thrown to Lynette before she was carried out to sea.
"Hello, honey, it's Dad. I just got a call from Hope Town Search and Rescue, and they found the flotation device that I threw to Mom when she fell overboard," the voicemail reportedly stated. Brian Hooker declined to comment to the publication.
Authorities could not confirm if the missing Michigan woman had been wearing a lifejacket when she fell off the dinghy, and in separate comments made during media rounds this week, Aylesworth made further serious allegations.
She said: "I do believe something might have happened to her. There's history of them choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there's more to the story."
Topics: Crime
William Morgan