BRIAN Hooker’s account of his wife vanishing off a dinghy in the Bahamas is not adding up, a friend has said.
Lynette Hooker, 55, from Michigan, went missing on April 5 after boarding a self-drive eight-foot hard-bottom dinghy with her husband to go from Hope Town to Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands.
Her husband, 58, told Royal Bahamas Police Force that Lynette fell overboard with the key to the vessel which turned off the engine and he lost sight of her in the rough waves.
Hooker said the strong currents pulled Lynette away and he was forced to manually row the vessel back to shore, leaving his wife behind.
He was arrested on Thursday in connection with her disappearance but has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Lynette’s daughter has called for a thorough investigation and fears the boating incident was not an accident as she shared a cryptic message about the couple’s “prior issues.”
Missing tourist who fell overboard from dinghy on Bahamas hols is pictured
‘DON’T MATCH UP’
Now, a friend of Hooker has also called his account of what happened into question as he shared several direct messages between himself and Hooker after Lynette’s disappearance.
On April 6, 24 hours after the incident, Daniel Danforth, who has been friends with Hooker for three years, reached out to check in on his pal as the story hit the press, he told CBS News.
Facebook messages shared with the outlet show Hooker retelling his version of events to Danforth saying Lynette fell “off the dingy in some choppy seeds on the way back to the sailboat (sic).”
“The wind blew me away from her and she swam towards the sailboat and we lost sight of eachother pretty quickly as it was just about sundown,” he said.
“I drifted and tried to paddle with one oar for the next 7 hours until I washed up behind the short of the next island over and was able to get help finally.”
Authorities say Hooker arrived at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard on Abaco at 4am on Sunday after the pair set off at around 7:30pm on Saturday evening.
It was only once he reached the boat yard that he contacted authorities about his missing wife.
“Our family is in hell,” he added in another message.
Following repeated interactions with Hooker, Danforth has raised concerns about his account of what took place, especially after seeing Hooker’s social media activity.
After the incident, Hooker allegedly liked a comment on Danforth’s wife’s Facebook account on a post she had shared about boating.
“You know, my wife’s missing, Facebook’s the last thing I’m worried about. You’re going to find me on the water riding around,” he told the news outlet.
“The stories don’t really match up,” he added, comparing Hooker’s version of events to media reports from details he told the authorities.
While officials have said Hooker told them his wife was swept out to sea, in DMs he said “she was casually swimming back toward the sailboat,” per CBS.
Danforth added that the pair “always had their phones with them” so is unsure why Hooker’s “didn’t work or why they didn’t have their phones in the boat” when she went missing.
It remains unclear whether Hooker had access to his phone or cell service onboard the dinghy, though Lynette’s daughter has said the couple would usually always carry phones when they went boating.
‘CASCADE OF FAILURES’
Meanwhile, CBS News has also verified and released the audio of a phone call Hooker made to pals two days after Lynette vanished, in which he repeats the claim that she fell overboard.
“Frankly, it’s incredible, in the literal sense. She basically just bounced off the dinghy in the middle of a little blow, like 20-something knot winds,” he told friends.
He detailed a “cascade of failures” that led to her going missing, including the sun setting, neither of them wearing life jackets, and how she allegedly fell with the dinghy key and spare key that was in her dry bag.
“The wind blew us apart so fast, I think she tried to swim back to our sailboat…I saw her I think twice and threw her a flotation cushion..but I couldn’t tell if she got it or not.
“It’s amazing how small a person is in 2-3 footers and 25-knot winds.”
He added that he told cops he would be staying in the Bahamas “until I get my wife back” and that “it’s something I’m never going to forgive myself for.”
Meanwhile Hooker’s stepmom Donna has urged him to “tell the truth” about what happened as he remains behind bars.
“I can’t comprehend it because of knowing him like I do. I don’t understand,” she told ABC 13.
“If he did what they think he did by pushing her out of the boat, he needs to tell the truth.”
She told the outlet that she didn’t know of any violence in the marriage but admitted, “I don’t think Lynette and Brian should have been together…it just seems like it got bad.”
Donna said she has not seen her stepson since his father, her husband, had a stroke in 2021.
A recovery effort for Lynette continues with US authorities, including the Coast Guard, now assisting the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Hooker’s detention has been extended until 7:20pm on Monday, by which time he must be charged with a crime or released, his attorney said on Friday.
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