The husband of a woman who has been missing in the Bahamas for more than a week allegedly told a night watchman that he ‘should have known better’.
Lynette Hooker, 55, has been missing at sea in the Bahamas after she and her husband, Brian Hooker, 59, had been returning to their yacht.
After she fell in while holding the boat key, the boat engine shut off, leading her husband to ‘paddle back’ to land and call the police.
Hooker was arrested last week in Marsh Harbour, Abaco Islands, for questioning late last week in relation to his wife’s disappearance.
After reaching shore, he spoke with night watchman Edward Smith, who told the Daily Mail that he showed ‘little emotion’.
‘There wasn’t a lot of emotion. There were no tears. He expressed nothing that you would imagine in those circumstances. He was more exhausted than emotional because he kept asking for water,’ he said.
Mr Smith said that Hooker also admitted the pair had been ‘very drunk’ when his wife fell overboard.
Hooker reportedly added: ‘I should have known better, I shouldn’t have done it’ – referencing going out in the rough waters.
Hooker told Mr Smith that the last time he saw his wife, she was swimming towards Hope Town, but he lost sight of her in the dark and large waves.
‘He said after she went over, a boat passed by and he shot up a flare. But the boat didn’t see it,’ Mr Smith said.
‘Then a couple of minutes later, another boat passed, and he shot up another flare. They also didn’t see it.’
More than a week after her disappearance, there’s still no sign of Lynette. Fishermen in the area fear sharks may have eaten her.
A boat captain said, ‘Those waters where she went in are full of bull sharks, and they can be monsters.
‘Everything around there is bull sharks. They’d get her straight away.’
Timeline of Lynette Hooker’s disappearance
April 4
- Lynette Hooker and her husband Brian travel on a dinghy back to their boat, but during high winds and choppy seas, Lynette falls overboard.
- Hooker paddles to shore and gets help – a search begins.
April 7
- Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, left a voicemail by Brian, saying authorities found the flotation device he threw to Lynette when she fell.
- Authorities say the search is now a recovery operation
April 8
- Brian Hooker is detained and questioned on ‘probable cause’ in relation to his wife’s disappearance.
April 9
- Lynette’s daughter brings up the former domestic violence allegations, citing a ‘turbulent marriage’.
Before his arrest, Hooker posted on Facebook: ‘I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my 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.’
Hooker also thanked the Bahamian search and rescue teams, who are working to search for his wife.
Karli Aylesworth, Lynette’s daughter, issued a statement saying that she had been told little information about her mum’s disappearance.
‘If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it. However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined,’ she said.
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