HOPE TOWN, Bahamas — Bahamian police are searching for missing American Lynette Hooker five days after her husband said she fell out of a dinghy and was swept away by a strong current near Elbow Cay in the Caribbean country. Her husband, Brian Hooker, has been arrested in her disappearance, according to the attorney representing him. Here’s what is known so far about the case.
Lynette, 55, and Brian, 58, chronicled their experience buying and cleaning up their boat in Rockport, Texas, in a video posted on YouTube on January 10, 2023, on their channel, The Sailing Hookers. They had spent years looking for a sailboat to buy before finding a Morgan 461 sailboat in Texas, a 1980 charter boat from the Virgin Islands. She described it as “a little rough on the edges,” but said, “But we knew we were up for the task,” in the video that showed photos and footage of the couple repairing the boat.
The Hookers continued to post updates over the years. A video dated March 17, 2023, shows them sailing from the Industrial Canal Lock toward Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, followed by another on March 26, 2023. On April 24, 2023, they posted a clip of Walmart supplies being delivered to them in New Orleans. There was a long gap until August 13, 2025, when they posted from Fernandina Beach, Florida, and a September 29, 2025 clip from a bridge over a creek in Coloma, California. A video dated March 9, 2026, shows them paddleboarding in Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas. Then, on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., they posted from Marsh Harbour again, showing them on the water.
Local authorities say the couple left Hope Town’s Abaco Inn on a dinghy headed toward their anchored yacht. According to Brian, Lynette fell overboard from the small boat, and the ignition key remained with her, causing the dinghy to shut off. Despite attempts to save her, he said she was swept away, and he paddled to the shore in Marsh Harbour. He reported Lynette missing on Sunday, April 5, 2026, at 4 a.m. The Royal Bahamas Police Force announced an investigation into Lynette’s fall, and the U.S. Coast Guard briefly participated in the search on Sunday. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force remains the lead agency for the search, and the Coast Guard provided support for about an hour using an HC-144 aircraft, but the effort yielded no results.
