A Michigan man whose wife vanished off the Bahamas is out of police custody but not out of investigators' sights, NBC News reports. Attorney Terrel Butler said authorities had to release his client, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, because they "had no evidence" to hold him, though police confirm he remains a suspect in the case of missing sailor Lynette "Lynn" Hooker.
Hooker told officials his wife fell from their dinghy on April 4 near Elbow Cay, taking the boat key with her and leaving him to paddle to shore before alerting police. No body has been found, and Bahamian authorities say the search—by land, air, and sea—continues despite rough weather. Police questioned Hooker for hours about whether he harmed his 55-year-old wife and about their relationship; he has "categorically and unequivocally" denied any wrongdoing. Lynn's daughter has publicly cast doubt on his account, saying she suspects the incident was not an accident and even that she believes it could have been planned in advance.
Both Brian and Lynn, experienced sailors with a history of marital strife and prior legal run-ins, had been living aboard their boat, CNN reports in a long look at their life together, which they documented on social media. They had temporarily separated in 2024, and in messages she sent to a friend at the time, she attributed their problems to "too much closeness" being together at sea all the time, CBS News reports. "It was real bad. I can't be out there with him," she wrote in one. "We were married 21 years. Our marriage lasted 6 weeks cruising."
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