The daughter of the American woman missing in the Bahamas says she thinks Brian Hooker is using his mother’s illness as an “excuse” to leave the island nation after he spent five days in a Freeport jail.
Karli Aylesworth told Fox News Digital on Friday that Hooker’s mother has been “terminally ill for a while.” Hooker abruptly left the Bahamas Wednesday after saying he would remain in the country to search for his missing wife, Aylesworth’s mother, Lynette.
He was released from a Bahamian jail Monday night after five days behind bars and made that promise in interviews with news outlets on Tuesday morning.
Aylesworth told NBC on Friday that she “never imagined” her mom would disappear, adding that “she was a great person and didn’t deserve this.” She said part of her feels like her stepdad is “going to get away with this” and walk away a free man, but “I hope that doesn’t happen.”
Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven arrive in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, Thursday, April 16, 2025. Karli is the daughter of missing American woman Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
Hooker has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, told Fox News Digital Tuesday that he “wants to continue with the search for his wife because that is his main focus So, as long as he can remain in the Bahamas, he’ll remain in the Bahamas.”
But about 24 hours later, Hooker changed his mind.
“Following his release from custody without charge, Mr. Hooker is now facing another emergency. In addition to the trauma of his wife of 25 years being missing, Mr. Hooker has received urgent word of his mother’s grave illness,” Butler told NBC News Wednesday afternoon.
“He has traveled to [the] United States of America to be at her bedside during this critical time.”
Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in an undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
Butler did not say where in the U.S. Hooker was going, but a source familiar with the case told Fox News Digital he landed in Atlanta.
Aylesworth, who arrived in the Bahamas Thursday, has been critical of her stepfather since her mother Lynette went missing.
“I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mom at sea and cries on camera saying he’ll never stop searching, then leaves the next day,” Aylesworth told the New York Post upon her arrival in the town of Marsh Harbour, close to where her mother went missing.
The “Soulmate,” owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, April 16, 2025. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
Hooker abandoned the couple’s 40-foot sailboat, “Soulmate,” anchored near a marina in Marsh Harbour.
The New York Post snapped close-up photos of the idle boat.
Immediately after Lynette’s disappearance, Aylesworth told Fox News Digital she was aware of “prior issues” with Brian’s behavior.
The inside of “Soulmate,” the boat owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, April 16, 2025. Inside the boat are dumbbells and various miscellaneous items. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
“There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation. If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,” Aylesworth said. “However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.”
She also told “Fox and Friends” that something “doesn’t add up” with her mother’s disappearance, and accused Brian of having a “history of domestic violence” and anger issues.
Brian Hooker stops by the Central Police Station to pick up his wedding ring and watch with his lawyer, Terrel A. Butler in Freeport, Bahamas, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
Hooker says Lynette’s disappearance was an accident caused by high wind and rough seas. The pair left The Abaco Inn bar on Elbow Cay in their dinghy at dusk on April 4, headed to their anchored sailboat just off the cay’s western coast. The ride was a short one, but Brian said Lynette fell overboard in the choppy waters.
He has always maintained that he is innocent of wrongdoing, and has not been charged with a crime.
He spent five days in jail — the maximum allowable under Bahamian law — while police investigated. That investigation remains ongoing despite his release.
News
The argument between Ashlee Jenae and her fiancé was caught on hotel CCTV, with the entire incident spanning more than an hour
Before the headlines, before the viral posts, before the community of Black women online started demanding answers, there was Ashlee Jenae. She was a woman from South Jersey who moved to Miami and built an online world that felt like a vision board brought to life. She was a model, content creator, and a self-described “soft life […]
New images show the boat Lynette Hooker and her husband were on before she vanished in the Bahamas, and a bl00d stain on the deck has been identified as…
MARSH HABOUR, Bahamas — One of these “pirates” may still be on the hook. The first photos of the scruffy boat that Lynette Hooker and her husband, Brian, were sailing before she mysteriously vanished were captured by The Post in the Bahamas — and it’s still flying a flag that declares, “A Pirate’s Life for Me.” […]
The courtroom fell into tears as jurors cried and the family exited when the final audio involving Athena Strand and the FedEx driver was played
Jurors were left sobbing and family members fled a Texas courtroom as footage from the last moments of young Athena Strand’s life were played at her murderer’s trial Thursday. Athena, 7, was heard repeatedly asking “Are you a kidnapper?” of confessed killer Tanner Horner in sickening and heartbreaking footage that was shown to jurors Thursday. […]
Athena Strand’s final 1:32 audio from inside the car has now been released, capturing her heartbreaking last words
Tanner Horner faces death penalty after pleading guilty to capital murder, with harrowing van recordings revealing the child’s desperate questions before she was strangled Athena Strand X/@901Lulu A jury has been moved to tears by the haunting final words of seven-year-old Athena Strand as she repeatedly asked her abductor ‘Are you a kidnapper?’ during a harrowing […]
After her stepfather fled the Bahamas, Lynette Hooker’s daughter responded strongly as the search for her missing mother officially begins
MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas — Lynette Hooker’s daughter had a cutting response to her stepfather Brian Hooker’s decision to flee the Bahamas after he had insisted he would stay to help authorities look for his missing wife. “I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mom at sea and cries on camera saying he’ll […]
The confrontation between William and Amaranthus creates a deep sense of conflict—while it is easy to pity the girl, trusting her is another matter entirely
MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR EPISODE 807! 🚨 Turn back now if you haven’t watched it yet. The latest episode leaves viewers completely speechless. It is an overwhelmingly heavy hour of television. The confrontation between William and Amaranthus creates a deep sense of conflict—while it is easy to pity the girl, trusting her is another matter […]
End of content
No more pages to load
