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U.S. Investigators Seek New Search Area in Lynette Hooker Disappearance
GPS data from an electronic device has prompted U.S. authorities to request permission for a dive search in the Sea of Abaco. The data does not match Brian Hooker's account of events on the night his wife disappeared.
May 27, 7:56 PM·1m read1 source
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U.S. investigators are seeking permission from the Bahamas to search new areas in the Sea of Abaco for the body of Lynette Hooker after GPS data contradicted her husband's account of the night she disappeared. U.S. official familiar with the investigation told CBS News that data from one of Brian Hooker's electronic devices showed the device traveled on the water and stopped in the Sea of Abaco before returning.
The information provides investigators with a more precise location than previously available.
Hooker told authorities that Lynette Hooker fell from an 8-foot dinghy on April 4 near Aunt Pat's Bay and was swept away with the boat keys. He said he paddled for hours before reaching shore. Lynette Hooker was last seen near Elbow Cay and Hope Town. Brian Hooker has denied wrongdoing and was questioned by Bahamian authorities for five days before being released without charges.
Guard investigators have asked Lynette Hooker's family members to provide DNA samples. The FBI in Quantico is still processing other evidence from the case. The Coast Guard Investigative Service seized the couple's sailboat, the Soulmate, earlier this month. Investigators are also examining an infrared camera aboard the vessel. S. -flagged.
