Husband Released Without Charges After Wife’s Disappearance in Bahamas

Brian Hooker reported that his wife Lynette accidentally fell overboard from the couple’s dinghy in rough waters near the Bahamas on April 4. Lynette Hooker, 55, has not been found, and her body was never recovered. New York Post reported that Hooker, 59, was detained and investigated for five days after the incident before being released without formal charges.

He then flew back to the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard later concluded a forensic dive operation and seized the couple’s dinghy. Hooker has hired defense attorney Crystal Marie Hause, who previously worked at the Department of Justice.

New York Post reported that Lynette Hooker’s family has accused him of involvement in her disappearance, though he has denied any wrongdoing. Court documents from Hooker’s prior marriage show that his ex-wife Elizabeth Hoseth obtained a personal protection order against him in November 1999 at Kent County Circuit Court in Michigan.

Hoseth had filed for divorce in 1999 after their February 1997 marriage in Kentwood, Michigan, and a judge granted the divorce in October 2000, awarding her physical custody of their daughter.

In her filings, Hoseth wrote that Hooker suggested during a phone call that “there could be an ‘accident’” if she did not stop opposing him. She also described him as having a violent temper and stated that he drank, used pornography, and was verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive during their marriage. Hoseth died in June 2024.

A 2001 filing indicated that Hooker had begun a new relationship with Lynette by that time.