Lynette Hooker bounced around the deck of the docked Soul Mate, smiled into the camera and proclaimed: 鈥淲e鈥檙e finally leaving Kemah,鈥� referring to a Texas port town.
鈥淚t鈥檚 only been four months,鈥� she said as her husband, Brian, tugged on some rigging as they got ready to set sail.
The 鈥淕ulf Crossing鈥� video more than three years ago marked the start of a sailing adventure 鈥� chronicled on Facebook 鈥� for a couple who are now at the center of criminal investigations after Lynette went .
A few days after Lynette disappeared, police in the Atlantic Ocean island nation arrested Brian. He and has been cooperating with law enforcement, his attorney, Terrel Butler, said.
On Friday, Brian’s attorney reiterated his innocence and said his wife has not been found. She said police had just finished an intensive 4-hour interview with him in which she described him as continuously asking about his wife.
鈥淗e was a bit puzzled because he was uncertain as to why they were questioning him about causing harm or possible murder when they had not given him any information in terms of where she is, if they had recovered her,鈥� she said.
Brian Hooker had told police that his wife of more than 20 years fell overboard Saturday night from a small motorboat that was carrying the couple from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, small islands on the eastern end of the Bahamas. He said Lynette, 55, had the keys and the boat’s engine shut off.
鈥淪trong currents subsequently carried her away, and he lost sight of her,鈥� police said in a statement Saturday.
He paddled to shore and alerted others early Sunday, said authorities, who arrested and questioned him Wednesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard has opened an investigation separate from the one by Bahamas authorities.
Karli Aylesworth, Lynette’s daughter, has said it’s unlikely her mother would 鈥渏ust fall鈥� from a boat.
And while the couple is seen smiling, laughing and joking in social media videos of their voyage, they have a history of contention.
Brian and Lynette Hooker accused each other of assault in 2015, according to a Kentwood, Michigan, police report obtained by NBC 草莓传媒.
Brian Hooker, who was intoxicated and bleeding from the nose, told police his wife had struck him multiple times in the face, the report said. He told officers Lynette also was drunk. She was arrested for assault and spent the night in jail. A warrant was denied because it wasn’t clear 鈥渨ho started the assault.鈥�
Aylesworth also told NBC that the couple鈥檚 relationship was volatile and that they have a 鈥渉istory of not getting along, especially when they drink.鈥�
The couple鈥檚 home is in Onsted, about 72 miles (117 kilometers) southwest of Detroit. The closest big body of water is Lake Erie, about 60 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Onsted.
Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, said Wednesday that the family 鈥済rew up on water鈥� and that her daughter’s life has been 鈥渘ear lakes, on boats, sailing and swimming.鈥�
The couple posted videos of their years sailing around the Caribbean on their 鈥淪ailing Hookers鈥� Facebook page.
Lynette, in the March 2023 video, describes the start of the couple’s voyage aboard the Soul Mate as the sailboat slips through the Kemah, Texas, fog and into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
鈥淧retty cool,鈥� Lynette said as Brian blared the Soul Mate’s foghorn. Later, while changing an engine alternator belt, he looks up at his wife and says, 鈥淗i sexy.鈥�
In an earlier video, the couple explains how they bought the Soul Mate in the coastal town of Rockport, Texas, and fixed it up.
鈥淎fter several years of driving around the country, looking for our perfect sailboat, we finally found her in Texas,鈥� Lynette said in that eight-minute video, posted in January 2023. 鈥淪he was a little rough on the edges. The decks needed to be redone, but we knew we were up for the task.鈥�
That video shows them working together, scraping, priming and painting. 鈥淭he decks are done! we’re still married! party time!鈥� is printed in a message on the video.
A video posted two years ago shows them using their smaller motorboat to buy food on land. The video doesn’t give the couple’s location.
鈥淲e got the grub,鈥� Brian says into the camera, which shifts to a case of beer at his feet and bags of groceries in the bow. 鈥淒elivery … the way of life, man.鈥�
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Associated Press writers R.J. Rico and D谩nica Coto contributed to this report. Freelance videographer Keith Gomez also contributed to this report.
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