Brian Hooker’s estranged stepmother is urging him to “tell the truth” regarding his wife’s disappearance after she reportedly fell into Bahamian waters while they were on a boat together.
The 59-year-old Hooker is currently detained at Freeport’s Central Police Station and will remain there at least until 7 p.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, his stepmother, Donna Hooker, is struggling to come to terms with the situation surrounding his wife.
“Knowing him as well as I do, I just don’t get it. I don’t get it,” she expressed.
On April 4, Hooker and Lynette, who is 55, were in an 8-foot dinghy when she reportedly fell overboard and was swept away by strong currents.
He was arrested on Wednesday but continues to assert his innocence. According to his lawyer, Hooker is being held while authorities weigh the decision on potential charges.
“If he did what they think he did—push her off the boat—he needs to come clean,” Donna Hooker mentioned. She last saw her husband George, Brian’s father, in 2021 when he suffered a stroke and had confided in her about his past difficulties.
“I asked Brian, ‘Where’s Lynette?'” she recalled. “He told me, ‘Well, we’re not working out, we’re separated, and I don’t know when or if we’ll get back together.'” She added, “I just don’t think they should have been together… things seemed to have only gotten worse.”
While Donna claimed she was unaware of any violent incidents, neighbors painted a different picture. Jordan Prenz, 29, stated that she had witnessed “pretty bad” domestic violence between the couple. Married for roughly 25 years, they had a history of breaking up and reconciling, and police had at least one prior domestic violence call related to them where Lynette was the one charged.
Lynette’s daughter, Carly Aylesworth, 28, expressed concern for her mother’s safety and called for a comprehensive investigation into Brian Hooker, who is not her biological father. “There have been issues raised before, and those might be crucial for a thorough investigation. If this was an accident, I can come to terms with that,” Aylesworth stated. “But before we determine that, we really need to evaluate all the facts surrounding this tragic incident.”
Brian Hooker’s attorney did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
