Feds plan new Bahamas search for Lynette Hooker after GPS data allegedly torpedoes husband’s story: source
Federal investigators have reportedly reopened the search for the Michigan woman who disappeared in the Bahamas after newly obtained forensic data suggests inconsistencies in her husband’s recollection of events from the night she went missing.
United States authorities are asking the Bahamas for clearance to send a dive team to search new areas in the Sea of Abaco for the remains of Lynette Hooker after newly discovered GPS data allegedly contradicted her husband’s version of events surrounding the night she vanished, CBS News first reported and a source confirmed to Fox News Digital.
A source reportedly told the outlet that GPS data retrieved from an electronic device belonging to Brian Hooker showed a discrepancy with his story to investigators, and that the device provides investigators with locations that have not yet been searched.
Investigators are also reportedly working to extract data from devices aboard the vessel – including an infrared camera – that may contain additional clues surrounding Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.
SAILBOAT TRACKING DATA WENT DARK FOR 11 HOURS THE NIGHT MISSING AMERICAN VANISHED IN THE BAHAMAS
A source in the Bahamas told Fox News Digital that the new search, if approved by Bahamian authorities, will focus on an area of the Sea of Abaco with waters reaching 25-foot depths. The renewed efforts are based on GPS data from Brian Hooker's phone, in which he was using a marine navigation app. The Hookers' dinghy allegedly visited the same area, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The Hookers' boat, Soulmate, has been moved from Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, because authorities did not have the capability to pull it from the water in Fort Pierce, a U.S. official told Fox News Digital.
The data shows the device on the water, stopping in the Sea of Abaco and later returning to shore, CBS News reported. The newly obtained data provides investigators with a more precise area to search, the source reportedly added.
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Family members of Lynette Hooker confirmed to Fox News Digital that they have provided DNA samples to aid in the investigation.
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Additional evidence in the case continues to be processed at the FBI’s lab in Quantico, CBS News reported.
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The development comes nearly two months after Lynnette Hooker vanished while on vacation with her husband on April 4, while also raising new questions surrounding Brian Hooker’s version of events.
Brian Hooker initially told investigators he and his wife were on a nighttime boat ride when she fell from a small dinghy and was swept away, Fox News Digital previously reported.
He said he was forced to paddle back to shore because his wife was carrying the ignition key when she went overboard, authorities said.
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Despite a weekslong search, investigators were unable to find Lynette Hooker.
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Brian Hooker was detained for five days by Bahamian police after his wife disappeared, but was never charged with a crime. He subsequently returned to the U.S. to tend to his "very ill" mother, his Bahamian attorney previously said.
Last month, investigators with the Coast Guard Investigative Service seized the couple’s shared sailboat and brought it to Fort Pierce, Florida, Fox News Digital reported.
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After Lynette Hooker went missing, Brian said in a Facebook post that he was "heartbroken."
"I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas," he wrote. "Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart. We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus."
Brian Hooker has not been charged with a crime by American authorities.
Fox News Digital reached out to Brian Hooker’s attorney for comment.