Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 25

Brian Hooker’s Stepmother Offers Help in 55-Year-Old Lynette’s Disappearance, Says He Lied

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 25

Brian Hooker’s Stepmother Offers Help in 55-Year-Old Lynette’s Disappearance, Says He Lied

Q: What chilling secret was captured on a recorded phone call that contradicts Brian Hooker's story about his missing wife?

The recorded call reportedly captured Brian Hooker saying things that suggested he and Lynette were both in the water while trying to get back into the dinghy, which conflicts with his account that she simply fell overboard and drifted away while he remained in the boat. In the call, described by family friend Blaine Stevenson, Brian said “the dinghy key was not attached to me” and referred to “when we were … trying to get back in the boat.” He also spoke about taking waves over the dinghy and bailing it out multiple times. That language appeared to place him in the water with Lynette at some point that night. That is the key contradiction. Brian had told authorities Lynette fell from the dinghy in rough water, was swept away with the ignition key, and he then paddled to shore. But the call suggests a different scenario in which he may have been overboard too, or at least gave a version of events inconsistent with the one he presented to investigators. Investigators have not publicly charged Brian Hooker, and the case remains active. But the phone call has drawn attention because it appears to undermine his timeline and description of what happened, alongside GPS data that authorities say also does not match his account.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 25

Donna Hooker said she wants to help investigators in the disappearance of 55-year-old Lynette Hooker, saying her stepson Brian “lied about everything” and that his account does not add up.
Lynette vanished in the Bahamas on April 4 during a sailing trip aboard the couple’s boat, Soulmate, after Brian told authorities she fell from a dinghy.
Bahamian police detained and questioned Brian before releasing him; he returned to the U.S. in mid-April, and the U.S. Coast Guard later seized Soulmate while it was headed back from the Bahamas.
Donna, who was married to Brian’s father for more than 40 years, said neither Bahamian nor U.S. investigators has contacted her despite decades of familiarity with him.
Brian has not been charged, his attorney has said he is in contact with investigators, and authorities say the case remains active and ongoing.