The daughter of a Michigan woman who vanished at sea after reportedly falling from a boat has responded to her stepfather’s release from police custody.
Brian Hooker, 58, was released from custody on Monday after being questioned over the course of several days in connection with the disappearance of his 55-year-old wife, Lynette Hooker. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Authorities said they decided to release Hooker after meeting with prosecutors, but that he remains a suspect. His attorney Terrel Butler told reporters that authorities had “no evidence” against her client and were required to release him.
Asked for her reaction during an appearance on NewsNation on Monday, Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, said: “I’m happy, I guess, that they didn’t find enough.” But she noted that an investigation remains ongoing and that she doesn’t believe the incident was an accident.
The Context
Hooker was arrested on Wednesday after telling police that his wife had fallen overboard with the keys to the dinghy they were traveling in on April 4. He said she was carried away by strong currents, and that he had to paddle to shore before he was able to alert someone about her disappearance.
His arrest came after Aylesworth questioned her stepfather’s account of what happened in interviews and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard has opened an investigation separate from the one by Bahamian authorities.
Butler said in an earlier statement that Brian Hooker “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing.”
What To Know
Aylesworth said on NewsNation that she had been informed by Coast Guard officials that they had turned over information they had gathered about Brian Hooker to Bahamian authorities.
“They’re gonna head down themselves tomorrow to do their own investigation,” she added.
She said she spoke to Hooker when he called the night her mother went missing, but has not answered any calls since.
“The only time I spoke to him is when he called Sunday night to tell me that she was missing,” she said. “Otherwise, I haven’t been answering any of his calls or texts. He has left voicemails and he left a few text messages.”
Aylesworth’s boyfriend, Steve Hansen, added that the way Hooker spoke about his wife’s disappearance was “very monotone.”
Aylesworth said it was “a little strange” because Hooker is “not a monotone guy.”
She added that her mother is “a fit woman so this doesn’t make sense. And they were really smart about not going in the water when it’s storming out. They stay in the boat and they’re usually pretty good about that.”
Aylesworth said on Monday that she is planning to travel to the Bahamas with Hansen.
In a news release posted on Facebook on Monday night, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the decision to release Hooker was made “following consultation with the Department of Public Prosecution, which recommended that no charges be filed at this time pending the outcome of further investigation.”
On Friday, Butler said police had spent four hours interviewing Brian Hooker about his wife’s disappearance.
Butler told NBC News that police did not provide any new evidence in an interview with him on Monday, which lasted less than an hour.
Newsweek has contacted Terrel Butler via an email sent outside regular business hours for further comment.
Brian Hooker described a “cascade of failures” that led to his wife’s disappearance in a phone call to a friend on April 7.
He told the friend his wife “basically just bounced off the dinghy” in winds of around 20 mph. He said the sun set about 10 minutes after she fell overboard.
“The wind blew us apart so fast that I think, I think, she tried to swim back to the sailboat, back to our sailboat, which was probably, I don’t know, 1,000 yards or something. I yelled to her that I lost the oar and I threw the anchor out and anchored the dinghy and just yeah, I yelled, I couldn’t see her anymore,” he said.
Aylesworth said in an interview with NBC News last week that it’s unlikely her mother, an experienced sailor, would “just fall” from a boat.
She also said the couple’s relationship was volatile and that they have a “history of not getting along, especially when they drink.”
The couple shared updates about their life at sea on social media under the moniker, “The Sailing Hookers.”
What Happens Next
The search and investigation remains ongoing.
Police are urging anyone with information that could help with the investigation to contact 911, 919, their nearest police station or the Criminal Investigations Department of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. They can also leave anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477).
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