The husband of missing boater Lynette Hooker said his “sole focus” is finding his wife after his release from the “hell” of custody in the Bahamas.
Brian Hooker, 58, told ABC News that he intends to hire or “beg people” to help him search for his wife over a week after she reportedly fell overboard on their 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy en route to their yacht in Elbow Cay.
Hooker, who was detained last Wednesday and questioned in connection with the disappearance of his wife of nearly 25 years, was released on Monday after investigators failed to file charges against him.
He told the outlet in a beachside interview that his “only focus is to go back to the boat, and then hire or beg people to help me go find some areas to search.”
“My sole focus is finding Lynette, no matter how likely or unlikely that is,” he said. “This search for Lynette has been interrupted by the investigation. I understand that investigations have to take place, but I’m going as soon as I can to start finding Lynette.”
He intends to stay in the Bahamas to search for Lynette, 55, until his visa runs out, he explained. It is not immediately clear when he is required to return to the US.
Hooker told police that his wife tumbled off a small dinghy as the couple returned to their boat, the Soulmate, amid rough seas.
He claimed she had the dinghy key on her when she fell, which cut off the motor, forcing him to paddle back to shore.
Hooker told a boatyard worker that he had set off two flares, which were ignored by two boats.
He described being in custody in the Caribbean tourist hotspot as “hell.”
“It was a little different chapter of hell in a giant hell that I’m in,” he said before breaking down into sobs.
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The Michigan boater, however, appeared coy and even flashed a smirk as he left Central Police Station in the Bahamian capital, Freeport, after cops reached a 7:20 p.m. Monday deadline to charge him.
Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, told Ashleigh Banfield on her “Drop Dead Serious” podcast that her daughter had left Hooker multiple times in the past over his allegedly abusive behavior — and had been planning to quit the marriage for good when she went missing.
Hamlett told ABC that she hopes the truth will come out about what happened to her daughter at sea on April 4.
“I just want the truth to come out, and I’m hoping that they can do that, and I hope they find her and that that will help clear up all of this,” she said.
Hooker added that he and Lynette “loved each other the most” and have been together nearly half of their lives.
“I will always think there was something I could have done differently. My one job, my one job, was to look out for her, and that has not happened. And I’m gonna keep looking out for her now, the best I can,” Hooker said.
“I’m going to keep going. I’m not leaving until I’m told to leave or convinced that it’s fruitless,” he said.
