A 56-year-old Michigan woman is missing after disappearing at sea during a trip near Hope Town in the Bahamas.
Police in the Bahamas have released a Michigan man without charging him in connection with the disappearance of his wife, who went overboard while the couple were out on a boat ride more than a week ago.
The Royal Bahamas Police Department released Brian Hooker, 59, late on Monday, April 13. They had him in custody for five days and conducted multiple interviews with him about what happened to his wife, 55-year-old Lynette Hooker.
Police say the release came after local prosecutors recommended that no charges be filed pending further investigation. He remains a suspect in Lynette Hooker's disappearance on the night of April 4, Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles told NBC News.
Brian Hooker's attorney did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Tuesday but she has vehemently denied that her client had anything to do with Lynette Hooker's disappearance.
"Mr. Hooker categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing," attorney Terrel Butler said in a statement to USA TODAY last week. "He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation."
Meanwhile Brian Hooker told CBS News that he will be searching for his wife indefinitely.
"I believe I've been told that people have lasted in the Bahamas after falling overboard for days and even weeks," he told CBS News. "There are so many islands, there are so many sandbars, little atolls and spits of land," he continued. "Of course you think about alternatives to that, but I'm not really capable of just turning away from this."
Here's what you need to know about the case.
What happened to Lynette Hooker?
On Saturday, April 4, Brian Hooker, 59, reported that his wife fell overboard from an 8-foot, hard-bottomed dinghy that they were taking on a night trip from Hope Town to Elbow Bay, which are both off of Great Abaco Island, according to a news release from the Royal Bahamas Police Department. Brian Hooker said that his wife had been carrying the boat keys so the engine shut off when she fell. Then "strong currents subsequently carried her away," and he lost sight of her, police said.
The agency said that Brian Hooker then paddled the dinghy to shore, which took hours, and that he arrived around 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 5.
Advardo Dames, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police, identified Brian Hooker as "a suspect" in an interview with Reuters. And a U.S. Coast Guard Official told USA TODAY that the agency also is conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker's disappearance.
Extensive search-and-rescue efforts for Lynette Hooker have included professional divers, drone technology and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. The operation is now considered a recovery effort.
What has Brian Hooker said since his wife disappeared?
Brian Hooker wrote a brief Facebook post about his wife's disappearance on Wednesday, April 8, roughly 12 hours before his arrest.
"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 said. "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."
He also left a voicemail for his stepdaughter the day after her mother disappeared.
"Hello, honey, I just got a call from Hope Town Search and Rescue, and they have found a flotation device that I threw to mom when she fell overboard," Brian Hooker said in the voicemail that Karli Aylesworth shared with multiple media outlets. "They haven't found her yet, but they can now focus all of their efforts in a smaller area."
While Hooker was still behind held for questioning following his arrest, Hooker's attorney told USA TODAY that her client's state of mind was emotional.
"Brian appears completely heartbroken and deeply distressed," Butler said. "His primary concern and source of intense frustration is his inability to continue the search for his wife of 25 years. The trauma of her disappearance, coupled with his current detention as a suspect, has left him in an extremely fragile state."
More about Brian and Lynette Hooker's relationship
Lynette and Brian Hooker have been documenting their sailing adventures on social media for years, describing themselves on TikTok as "a married couple living their best life" after they "sailed away from BS." They've sailed to New Orleans, Miami Beach, Key West, on Lake Michigan, and most recently, throughout the Bahamas.
Lynette Hooker's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has described her mom's relationship with her stepdad Brian as rocky and volatile in interviews with NBC News, CBS News and Fox News.
"Their relationship has been a lot of fighting and drinking lately," she told CBS. "So I'm just kind of questioning what actually went on in that dinghy.
"It just doesn't add up," she told Fox News. "There's history of him choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So the fact that this is happening makes me believe there's more to the story."
During an interview with police responding to a fight between the couple in 2015, a "highly intoxicated" Lynette Hooker said that Brian Hooker had choked her and punched her, according to the report obtained from the Kentwood Police Department.
Officers found Brian Hooker drunk with blood coming out of his nose. He told police that Lynette Hooker had hit him in the face up to five times, according to the report.
"He stated he had never been hit like that in a long time," an officer wrote. "He started to cry and became emotional."
Because Brian Hooker had a swollen and bloody nose and Lynette Hooker had no visible injuries, she was the one arrested, the report said.
USA TODAY has been unable to find any records showing that Brian Hooker has been convicted of domestic violence.
What happens now?
For now, it appears that Brian Hooker plans to remain in the Bahamas searching for his wife.
Bahamian police and the U.S. Coast Guard will continue their investigation into what happened to Lynette Hooker. Because police still consider her husband a suspect, Brian Hooker remains under a police microscope.