In a Dateline exclusive, Karli Aylesworth visited the boat where her missing mother, Lynette Hooker, lived with her stepfather, Brian Hooker.
For the first time since her mother’s disappearance, the daughter of a Michigan woman who went missing in the Bahamas is visiting a boat where her mother lived with her stepfather.
In a Dateline exclusive, Karli Aylesworth visited the boat where the couple lived together for the first time since her mother, Lynette Hooker, disappeared on April 4. She was reported missing after Hooker’s husband, Brian Hooker, told authorities she fell overboard while on a dinghy trip together.
“It’s making it a little bit more real,” Aylesworth told Dateline’s Andrea Canning in an excerpt shared on TODAY April 17.
“A lot of sadness,” she continued. “When I first got here, I sat up there and looked at the boat and started talking to her like she was here. I was like, ‘Hey Mom, I’m here. Wherever you are. I just want to talk to you and see you again.’”
Brian Hooker, 58, was taken into custody by authorities on April 8 and then released by police five days later. His attorney, Terrel Butler, told reporters that authorities “had no evidence” against him and were required to release him.
Brian Hooker.NBC News
Hooker remains a suspect in his wife’s disappearance, Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles told NBC News on April 13. He has not been charged with a crime and denies having anything to do with it.
Aynesworth, 28, told Dateline she spent three hours talking to police and hopes to keep a spotlight on the case.
Brian Hooker has left the Bahamas since being released by police because his mother is ill, but he plans to return, his lawyer told NBC News.
He told police that Lynette fell overboard on a dinghy they were riding in and had the key to the vessel, which forced him to paddle from Elbow Cay to Marsh Harbor Boat Yard to notify police. Authorities are still searching for her by land, air and sea.
Police questioned Brian Hooker for more than three hours at Central Police Station in Grand Bahama about whether he harmed his wife, his attorney told NBC News.
Lynette Hooker.Facebook
Aylesworth has previously questioned her stepfather’s version of what happened.
“I hope this was just a freak accident, but I just have a hard time believing it at the moment,” Aylesworth told NBC News on April 9. “I just want to know the truth.”
“I feel like this was probably preplanned, if anything, like, it doesn’t seem like just some accident,” she added.
Brian Hooker “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing and in particular the allegations recently made by Karli Aylesworth,” Butler said in a statement to NBC News.
Aylesworth told NBC News the couple had a turbulent history, “especially when they drink.”
Lynette Hooker was arrested on charges of assault and battery/simple assault in 2015, though the warrant was denied for “insufficient evidence as to who started the assault.” She and her husband accused each other of assault, according to a Michigan police report.
Brian Hooker was also acquitted by a Michigan jury of a child abuse charge in 2006, according to court records. Details of the case were not available.
News
Friend Speaks: A close friend of Lynette Hooker says Brian Hooker should “step up” the search in the Bahamas — but he responded by going out to a special place
(NewsNation) — After Brian Hooker left the Bahamas, where his wife, Lynette, vanished several days ago, friends of the couple have said he needs to “step up” in the search. Hooker’s attorneys said he flew back to the United States after learning his mother was seriously ill. As the search for Lynnette enters its 12th […]
Major Development: Authorities have arrested Brian Hooker in the U.S. linked to the Bahamas disappearance case
Brian Hooker Could Be Arrested In US Over Wife’s Disappearance—Attorney The husband of a woman who vanished at sea after reportedly falling off a boat in the Bahamas could face charges in the United States, a maritime attorney told Newsweek. Brian Hooker, 59, was released from police custody on Monday without charge after being questioned […]
Just In: Brian Hooker has been arrested in the U.S. in connection with the disappearance of his wife in the Bahamas
Brian Hooker Could Be Arrested In US Over Wife’s Disappearance—Attorney The husband of a woman who vanished at sea after reportedly falling off a boat in the Bahamas could face charges in the United States, a maritime attorney told Newsweek. Brian Hooker, 59, was released from police custody on Monday without charge after being questioned […]
Latest: Families of the 8 Shreveport v!ctims speak out in tears, saying the tragedy still feels impossible to believe
Suspect, father of 7 of the kids, fled to Bossier where he was shot dead SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has now identified the eight children who were shot and killed in a domestic violence incident in Shreveport Sunday morning (April 19). Seven siblings and a cousin were shot and killed. […]
Heartbreaking: The families of the 8 v!ctims in the Shreveport tragedy have shared emotional letters through tears, saying they still cannot believe it happened
Suspect, father of 7 of the kids, fled to Bossier where he was shot dead SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has now identified the eight children who were shot and killed in a domestic violence incident in Shreveport Sunday morning (April 19). Seven siblings and a cousin were shot and killed. […]
Latest: After returning to the family boat in the Bahamas, the daughter discovered a handwritten note from her missing mother inside a lower-deck drawer
In a Dateline exclusive, Karli Aylesworth visited the boat where her missing mother, Lynette Hooker, lived with her stepfather, Brian Hooker. For the first time since her mother’s disappearance, the daughter of a Michigan woman who went missing in the Bahamas is visiting a boat where her mother lived with her stepfather. In a Dateline […]
End of content
No more pages to load
