Police in the Bahamas are furiously searching for the body of missing Michigan boater Lynette Hooker, as the clock ticks down Monday on the deadline for criminally charging her husband.
Brian Hooker, 59, was taken into custody on the Caribbean island last Wednesday, four days after he told authorities his wife fell overboard as the couple from Michigan rode a small dinghy back to their yacht.
Authorities in the Bahamas have until 7:20 p.m. Eastern time Monday to decide whether to charge Brian in connection with Lynette’s disappearance or set him free, his attorney, Terrel Butler, told reporters.
He cannot be detained beyond that deadline, although it is unclear when he may appear in court.
Brian was scheduled to be interviewed again by police on Monday, after being questioned for more than three hours at Grand Bahama’s Central Police Station on Friday, Butler said.
Brian Hooker has been held in custody in the Bahamas since Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Lynette. Facebook/Brian Hooker He was initially asked to come in for questioning and was told he wasn’t under suspicion of killing 55-year-old Lynette, who Brian claimed fell into the sea on the night of April 4 with the key to the dinghy, forcing him to paddle back to shore.
“He was uncertain as to why they were questioning him about causing harm or possible murder when they had not given him any information where she is, if they had recovered her,” Butler said.
“He definitely denies causing her death, and he still asked about her and is hopeful that she will be recovered,” Butler added.
Authorities in the Bahamas have until 7:20 p.m. Eastern time Monday to charge Hooker or release him. via REUTERS The rescue mission to find Lynette was called off last Tuesday and has now become a recovery mission.
A flotation device believed to have been thrown to Lynette was found last week, but as of Monday, her body remains missing.
Authorities are continuing to search for the mom by air, land and sea, Royal Bahamas Defense Force Commander Origin Deleveaux told NBC News.
The initial search mission was hampered by “serious bad weather,” Deleveaux added, echoing Brian’s account of stormy seas on the night of his wife’s disappearance.
Brian has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his wife’s disappearance.
His stepdaughter, Karli Aylesworth, has questioned his account of the incident and accused him of previously “choking” Lynette and threatening to throw her overboard.
“I hope this was just a freak accident, but I just have a hard time believing it at the moment. I just want to know the truth,” Aylesworth said on Thursday.
“I feel like this was probably preplanned, if anything,” she said, adding that “it doesn’t seem like just some accident.”
Brian described the night his wife disappeared in a phone call to a friend, claiming that his wife “basically just bounced off the dinghy” amid 20-mph winds.
Court records in Michigan indicate that Brian was acquitted of child abuse charges in 2006 by a jury, although further details on the case were unavailable.
Lynette was arrested on charges of assault and battery/simple assault in 2015, although that warrant was denied due to “insufficient evidence as to who started the assault,” according to a Michigan arrest report.
