The husband arrested in connection with his wife’s disappearance in the Bahamas described the events of the night she vanished as a “cascade of failures” — admitting that he “can’t really explain” what happened in a frank call to a friend.
Brian Hooker, 59, is still being questioned by police in the Caribbean after he said his wife, Lynette, 55, fell overboard off a small dinghy as they returned to their yacht on April 4.
“It was a cascade of failures, and it’s something I’m never going to forgive myself for,” Hooker said in the call to a friend made April 7, and verified by CBS News.
Lynette Hooker was first reported missing by her husband Brian last week, who claims she fell off their boat in the Bahamas.Facebook / Lynette Hooker
Brian Hooker is currently jailed and being questioned by the police in the Caribbean in connection with Lynette’s disappearance.Facebook/Lynette Hooker
“It was a cascade of failures, and it’s something I’m never going to forgive myself for,” Hooker said in the call to a friend made April 7, and verified by CBS News.Facebook/Lynette Hooker
“We stayed too long, we left too dark, all kinds of s–t,” Hooker continued, speaking in a calm voice.
Brian then admitted to not anchoring the dinghy.
“I f–king threw the anchor out last, instead of first,” he told his pal.
“Can’t really explain it, you know. I just know that I hate this boat and if she doesn’t come back, I’m never getting on this f–king boat and I’m gonna sell this f–ker,” he said.
He also admitted that the pair, from Michigan, did not bring their life jackets.
Hooker’s tone is calm throughout the call, made just three days after his wife went missing, and he even breaks into laughter at certain points as he recounts the incident.
Hooker also admitted that the pair, from Michigan, did not bring their life jackets.Facebook / Lynette Hooker
“She basically just bounced off the dinghy in the middle of a little blow, like 20-something knot winds that popped up,” Hooker said, before describing how it became too dark for him to see soon after.
“It was sundown, and the sun set basically 10 minutes after she fell over,” he said.
Hooker told the friend that his wife had the key to the dinghy on her when she fell overboard, forcing him to paddle back to shore.
Lynette has still not been found after her apparent fall.Abaco Asian Market via WTVG
“The dinghy key went over with her because it wasn’t clipped to anything or anybody, and she had the spare dinghy key in her dry bag, which was with her,” Hooker explained.
“The wind blew us apart so fast that I think she tried to swim back to the sailboat,” he said, adding that they were around “1,000 yards” from the yacht at the time.
“I yelled to her that I lost an oar, and I threw the anchor out and anchored the dinghy … I couldn’t see her anymore,” Hooker said.
“The dinghy key went over with her because it wasn’t clipped to anything or anybody, and she had the spare dinghy key in her dry bag, which was with her,” Hooker explained.Facebook / Lynette Hooker
He added that he had thrown out a “floatation cushion,” but he couldn’t be sure whether his wife had “had got it or not.”
Authorities later said they found the floatation device but no signs of Lynette, and have since called off the search on Tuesday.
Hooker was taken into custody at around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday local time “for additional questioning,” according to Advardo Dames, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police.
Hooker has not been charged, and his attorney says he “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing.”
The couple had been sailing their yacht, “The Soulmate,” around the Caribbean at the time, sharing clips of their seemingly idyllic life on their social media.
However, Lynette’s daughter from a previous marriage, Karli Aylesworth, has claimed that Hooker was abusive to her mother, and had previously “choked her out” and threatened to throw her overboard.
With Post wires
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