Seized on Camera: The chilling moment police confiscated Brian Hooker’s boat after his wife mysteriously disappeared in the Bahamas
NEWLY released video shows the moment cops seized Brian Hooker’s boat “Soulmate” after his wife disappeared into the water.
Lynette Hooker, a 55-year-old mother from Michigan, vanished after she and her husband left the shore in the Bahamas on April 4.
Newly released body cam footage shows the US Coast Guard seizing Brian Hooker’s boat after his wife’s disappearanceCredit: DVIDS
Brian and Lynette Hooker were in a dinghy in the Bahamas when Lynette reportedly fell overboard into the rough watersCredit: Instagram
Advertisement
Two unidentified men were on the boat and told officials they were bringing it to a beach in Florida for the ownerCredit: DVIDS
Lynette fell into the water on April 4 and has yet to be foundCredit: Facebook/Lynette Hooker
The US Coast Guard seized Brian’s boat in May and took it to Fort Pierce, Florida, where authorities planned to bring it to Fort Lauderdale for further investigation, a source told Fox News Digital.
Officer body cam footage was released on Thursday of the moment the US Coast Guard seized the vessel on May 9.
A US Coast Guard boat could be seen approaching the vessel with sirens wailing as one man asked the Soulmate ship’s captain how many people were on board and if they had any weapons.
The captain, who was joined by an unidentified man, said he was moving the boat to Fernandina Beach in Florida for the owner.
“Right now the boat is being seized,” a Coast Guard officer told the captain.
“Oh s**t,” he replied.
The captain also told the officer that there were no plans of the boat’s owner to meet them at Fernandina Beach.
The couple’s sailboat is their full-time home in their retirement.
Brian has maintained that his wife Lynette fell off a dinghy while they were out in the waters after leaving Hope Town in the Bahamas.
Brian said he lost sight of her after she fell into the rough waters and that it took him eight hours to row himself back to shore.
The mystery of her disappearance intensified after Lynette’s daughter Karli Alyesworth, claimed the couple had an unstable relationship and feared it wasn’t an accident.
At the end of May it was reported that investigators were looking into GPS data from Brian’s phone, which allegedly showed discrepancies between the account of events that he told authorities.
The US Coast Guard was seen approaching the Hooker’s vessel named “Soulmate”Credit: DVIDS
The man driving the boat replied “Oh s**t” when officials said it was being seizedCredit: DVIDS
Brian was detained for five days after his wife’s disappearance but he has not faced any chargesCredit: Instagram/the_sailing_hookers
Lynette’s daughter raised concerns about Brian’s telling of event as she claimed Lynette never drove the dinghy on their expeditionsCredit: Facebook/Brian Hooker
Advertisement
Investigators launched a new search in a different area of the Sea of Abaco in June, which came after Brian’s GPS data reportedly showed his phone stopped in the sea before returning to shore.
Brian was detained for five days after his wife’s disappearance but he has not faced any criminal charges.
Alyesworth spoke with The U.S. Sun in April, alleging Brian had a history of “domestic violence and a lot of fighting when drinking.”
Lynette’s daughter also said her mother never drove the dinghy, revealing Brian’s story of how she disappeared left her confused.
“I’m confused why she has the keys because she never drove the dinghy. It was always Brian. So the story just doesn’t add up right now,” Alyesworth told Fox News Digital.
One of the couple’s friends of many years also said he doesn’t believe Brian’s story adds up.
Daniel Danforth told CBS News he reached out to Brian after hearing about Lynette’s disappearance.
Danforth said Brian told him that his wife fell into “some choppy seeds on the way back to the sailboat.”
“The wind blew me away from her and she swam towards the sailboat and we lost sight of eachother pretty quickly as it was just about sundown,” he said in Facebook messages Danforth shared with CBS.
Danforth alleged that Brian liked a comment on Facebook that Danforth’s wife shared about boating.
“You know, my wife’s missing, Facebook’s the last thing I’m worried about. You’re going to find me on the water riding around,” he said.
“The stories don’t really match up.”
