Brian Hooker leaves Bahamas to be with ailing mother as search for wife continues
According to his attorney, Brian Hooker plans to return to the Bahamas as the search for his wife, Lynette Hooker, continues.
Updated on: April 15, 2026 / 8:10 PM EDT / CBS News
Amid the ongoing search for his wife, Brian Hooker has left the Bahamas to see his ailing mother, his attorney told CBS News.
Brian Hooker, 59, told authorities that Lynette Hooker, 55, fell from their eight-foot dinghy the evening of Saturday, April 4, while they sailed from Hope Town to Elbow Cay. He said powerful currents swept her away, along with the keys to their boat, which cut power to its engine and prevented him from reaching her.
Police said Brian Hooker paddled to the island of Abacoa, where he docked at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday, April 5. Police said he told someone that his wife was missing, and that person then informed authorities.
Hooker told several friends his account of what happened that night via text, and also sent them annotated maps of the area . In the messages, which were reviewed by CBS News, Brian Hooker said that the wind blew him and Lynette Hooker apart. He said she swam toward the sailboat, but the two "lost sight of each other pretty quickly."