Coast Guard releases new photos of sailboat seized in missing American's Bahamas disappearance case
The Coast Guard released new pictures of the agency's seizure of Brian Hooker's sailboat as a criminal investigation remains ongoing into the disappearance of his wife.
Agents with the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) seized the sailboat Soulmate, which belongs to Brian and Lynette Hooker, 40 nautical miles off the coast of Melbourne, Florida, according to a news release. A source previously told Fox News Digital the sailboat was seized between May 8-10.
Lynette Hooker fell off a dinghy after leaving shore at Hope Town in the Bahamas at around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, her husband, Brian Hooker, told authorities. Brian Hooker claimed that rough waters caused Lynette to fall off the small boat. Brian Hooker paddled to shore and arrived at Marsh Harbour around 4 a.m. on April 5, according to authorities.
The couple was headed back to their sailboat, their full-time home in retirement, when Lynette fell overboard. They frequently sail around the U.S. and Caribbean, according to their social media pages.
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Brian Hooker hasn't been charged with a crime.
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The Coast Guard said the seizure was part of a "complex surveillance and interdiction operation." Soulmate was taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce, where investigators are processing the boat for potential evidence.
"The vessel Soulmate is currently in the custody of CGIS as part of an active criminal investigation," the Coast Guard said.
Images taken by Fox News Digital on Tuesday show Brian and Lynette Hooker's sailboat taped off as it sits at the U.S. Coast Guard's station in Fort Pierce.
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The boat's seizure comes about a week after the Coast Guard sought the public's help in finding the owner of a sailboat that was moored near Brian and Lynette Hooker's Soulmate sailboat in the Bahamas.
Brian Hooker left the island for the U.S. to tend to his ill mother, his Bahamian attorney previously said.
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His Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans to give him the benefit of the doubt in an interview with ABC News.
"I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways," Crystal Marie Hauser said.