Brian Hooker had been in police custody since April 8 after he said his wife fell off their boat and was swept away by strong currents.
A photo of Brian and Lynette Hooker. They chronicled their travels at sea on YouTube.Credit…Facebook
An American man who told the police in the Bahamas last week that his wife disappeared after falling off the small boat they had been traveling on has been released from custody.
The release was announced by the Royal Bahamas Police Force in a news release posted on social media.
“The decision to release the individual was made following consultation with the Department of Public Prosecutions, which recommended that no charges be filed at this time pending the outcome of further investigations.”
The Royal Bahamas Police Force did not provide additional details.
The man, Brian Hooker, of Onsted, Mich., told the Bahamian authorities on April 5 that his wife, Lynette Hooker, 55, had fallen off an eight-foot, hard-bottom dinghy at 7:30 p.m. the previous night during a journey to Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a news release last week that an American man told them he had lost sight of her when she was swept away in strong currents. The statement did not name the couple.
The man told the authorities that the boat’s engine shut off because his wife had the boat’s keys on her when she went overboard, the statement said. After losing sight of her, the man paddled the boat to shore over several hours before arriving at a boatyard in Marsh Harbour, the largest town on Great Abaco Island, on April 5, the police said.
He was arrested on April 8.
The couple chronicled their adventures on a YouTube channel, “The Sailing Hookers.” Their most recent videos showed them boating, snorkeling and paddleboarding in the Bahamas.
Hours before he was arrested, Mr. Hooker posted an account of Ms. Hooker’s disappearance on social media, saying that “unpredictable seas and high winds” had caused her to go overboard. “Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart,” he said.
Terrel A. Butler, his lawyer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday evening.
Ms. Butler said in an emailed statement last week that Mr. Hooker had been detained so the authorities could “ask him questions to do their investigation.” She later said his custody had been extended until Monday at 7:20 p.m. Ms. Butler said over the weekend that Mr. Hooker had recently been evaluated for a knee injury that he told her had occurred when he fell off a police boat while handcuffed in custody. The police did not respond to a request for comment about the reported incident.
The Sailing Hookers YouTube channel, created in 2011, chronicled the couple’s travels, including encounters with dolphins, a cargo ship and a tropical storm. They also posted on Instagram, including a video on March 29 in which they contended with 30-knot wind gusts in the Bahamas.
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