Husband of missing American woman in the Bahamas says he’ll keep searching for her following his release
By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
(CNN) — In some of his first interviews since being released from police custody in the Bahamas, Brian Hooker told CBS and NBC on Tuesday he is choosing to believe his wife is still alive and plans to go back out and search for her.
“No one has told me not to stop looking and I’m going to keep looking,” he told NBC Tuesday.
Lynette Hooker, a 55-year-old mother and sailor, went missing on April 4. Her husband of 25 years told authorities she fell from an 8‑foot dinghy in the rough waters near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands that evening as the couple was traveling back to their yacht, according to police.
The Michigan couple, both US nationals, have been sailing together for more than a decade, documenting their life at sea on social media. They were navigating the Bahamas on their yacht, Soulmate, when the incident happened.
The 10 days without his wife by his side is the longest Brian Hooker has ever been apart from her, he told NBC.
“I want people to know that Lynette is my life and we have been together almost half my life and we belong to each other and I mean to keep looking,” Hooker told the outlet.
Brian Hooker was arrested and questioned several times by police in connection with his wife’s disappearance before being released without charges Monday. The US Coast Guard has since opened a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.
“I believe I’ve been told that people have lasted in the Bahamas after falling overboard for days and even weeks,” he told CBS, adding with so many islands, the search area is vast and there are many possibilities for where she could have taken refuge. He said he is “not really capable of just turning away from this.”
Before his arrest, Brian Hooker had planned to hire a plane to search for his wife by air, he told NBC.
It is unclear whether his plans have changed but his attorney, Terrel Butler, told CNN Tuesday Hooker’s primary focus remains on the search for his wife and he is “dedicating his full emotional and physical energy toward coordinating with relevant parties to find her.”
This story is developing and will be updated.
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CNN’s Alaa Elassar, Dianne Gallagher, Martin Goillandeau, Elizabeth Wolfe, Chris Boyette, Meridith Edwards and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
