Authorities in the Bahamas have arrested a Michigan man four days after his wife went missing during a nighttime boat ride that left the couple's family questioning his account of what happened.
The Royal Bahamas Police Department announced the arrest of Brian Hooker, 59, on Wednesday, April 8. The agency says Hooker is being questioned in connection with the disappearance of his wife, 55-year-old Lynette Hooker. A U.S. Coast Guard Official also told USA TODAY on Wednesday that the agency is conducting a criminal investigation into Hooker's disappearance.
On Saturday, April 4, Brian Hooker reported that his wife fell overboard from an 8-foot, hard-bottomed dinghy that they were taking on a night trip from Hope Town to Elbow Bay, which are both off of Great Abaco Island, according to a news release from the Royal Bahamas Police Department. Brian Hooker said that his wife had been carrying the boat keys so the engine shut off when she fell. Then "strong currents subsequently carried her away," and he lost sight of her, police said.
The agency said that Brian Hooker then paddled the dinghy to shore, which took hours, and that he arrived around 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 5.
"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," Brian Hooker wrote on Facebook about 12 hours before his arrest. "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."
