Coast Guard Seeks Information on Missing Sailboat in Bahamas

The U.S. Coast Guard is requesting assistance in locating a sailboat that might have been anchored near the boat owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker on the night Lynette vanished in the Bahamas.

Over a month has passed since 55-year-old Lynette went missing on April 4. Brian reported that his wife fell overboard from their 8-foot dinghy as they were heading back to their yacht, Soulmate, near Elbow Cay during the evening. The yacht was anchored in Aunt Pat’s Bay.

According to Brian, they had been drinking at the Abaco Inn and tried to return to their yacht despite challenging winds and rough waters, which ultimately led to Lynette falling overboard.

The Coast Guard has issued a statement appealing to the public for any information regarding Lynette Hooker’s disappearance from Aunt Pat’s Bay on April 4. They specifically mentioned a “nondescript yacht” and are looking for its owner, suggesting that this person may have seen Brian and Lynette on that fateful night.

People with any possible information are encouraged to reach out through a telephone application, as reported by CBS, which also mentioned a memo about the ongoing search effort.

Following Lynette’s disappearance, Brian was detained by Bahamian authorities for five days but was ultimately released without any charges. He has insisted that he did nothing wrong.

Upon his release from a police station in Freeport on April 13, he expressed his intention to stay in the Bahamas to continue searching for his wife. However, he returned to the United States the next day.

While the Coast Guard has declined to comment further, stating that it is an active investigation, they noted that any insight into the yacht and its owner could be critical for the case. The Hooker family had originally resided in Michigan before pursuing their dream of sailing in the tropics.