Daughter of Woman Missing at Sea Questions Stepdad's Account

Daughter calls for full investigation into woman who vanished in Bahamas
Posted Apr 8, 2026 2:00 AM CDT
Daughter of Missing Boater Questions Stepdad's Account
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / Stacy Matte)

A Michigan woman vanished during a nighttime dinghy ride in the Bahamas, and her daughter says the story doesn't add up, CBS News reports. The search for Lynette Hooker is heading into its fourth day after she reportedly went overboard Saturday night near Elbow Cay in the Abaco islands, according to Bahamian authorities. Her husband, Brian Hooker, told police she fell from their 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy—taking the keys with her—and was swept away by strong currents. With the engine dead, he said he paddled to shore, reaching a boatyard around 4am Sunday. Lynette Hooker's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, isn't convinced. She tells Fox News there were "prior issues" and is calling for a full investigation.

She describes her mother as a strong swimmer with a decade of sailing experience and questions how Lynette could have had the boat keys, saying Brian typically controlled them because he was "always driving" the boat. Brian Hooker is Aylesworth's stepfather, the Detroit News reports. "The story is that she fell off with the key and he threw her a life jacket or something and she was swimming towards shore, but I don't understand why she was swimming away from the boat with the key," Aylesworth tells WMYD Detroit. A voicemail Brian later left Aylesworth, which she shared with CBS, mentions a flotation device he says he tossed to his wife; search teams have since found it. Brian declined to answer CBS' questions about the incident. Police say he has not been accused of any wrongdoing and emphasize the effort is still officially a search-and-rescue operation.

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