Husband of missing US woman taken into custody in Bahamas, attorney reveals new details
Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel A. Butler, addresses the arrest of the husband of missing US woman Lynette Hooker, who vanished in the Bahamas. Butler denies allegations of domestic violence made by Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, suggesting her grief and medical history may influence her statements. The attorney describes the challenging sea conditions during the search.
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The daughter of a woman who remains missing in The Bahamas lashed out against her stepfather after arriving on Great Abaco Island on Thursday.
Karli Aylesworth previously slammed her stepfather, Brian Hooker, who was the last person to see her mother, Lynette Hooker, alive on April 4. Brian said Lynette fell overboard from their dinghy around 7:30 p.m. as the pair motored towards their sailboat, which was anchored off of Elbow Key.
Brian was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force on April 8, and spent five days behind bars while police investigated Lynette’s vanishing. He was released Monday night without being charged with a crime.
On Tuesday morning, he told several news outlets that he would remain in the island nation to search for Lynette, but jetted off Wednesday for the United States, landing in Atlanta in mid-afternoon, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive in Marsh Harbour, The Bahamas, Thursday, April 16, 2026. Aylesworth is the daughter of missing American woman Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
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“I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mom at sea and cries on camera saying he’ll never stop searching, then leaves the next day,” Aylesworth told The New York Post upon her arrival to the town of Marsh Harbour, close to where her mother went missing.
Brian Hooker leaves his hotel with lawyer, Terell A. Butler, in Freeport, The Bahamas, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
She de-planed at the tiny Leonard Thompson International Airport in Marsh Harbour with her boyfriend, Steve Hansen, in tow. They were reportedly met by a uniformed police officer before taking off in a taxi.
Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said he was going to visit his mother.
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Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive in Marsh Harbour, The Bahamas, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
“Following his release from custody without charge, Mr. Hooker is now facing another emergency. In addition to the trauma of his wife of 25 years being missing, Mr. Hooker has received urgent word of his mother’s grave illness,” Butler told NBC News. “He has traveled to [the] United States of America to be at her bedside during this critical time.”
In the wake of her mother’s disappearance, Aylesworth told Fox News Digital that she was aware of “prior issues” with Brian’s behavior.
Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in this undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
“There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation. If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,” Aylesworth said. “However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.”
Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive in Marsh Harbour, The Bahamas, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Matthew Symons for NY Post)
Aylesworth said she has been “privy to very little information,” adding her “sole concern is to find out what happened to my mother and make sure a full and complete investigation is performed into her disappearance.”
She also told “Fox and Friends” that something “doesn’t add up” with her mother’s disappearance, and accused Brian of having a “history of domestic violence” and anger issues.
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Meanwhile, Bahamian police said their search for Lynette was coming to an end as early as Thursday after analyzing “tide, drift and wind,” and deciding there was nowhere else to look. A U.S. Coast Guard investigation remains ongoing.
Lynette Hooker went missing after she fell off a small boat on Saturday evening. Her husband, Brian Hooker, reported her missing early Sunday morning. (Lynette Hooker/Facebook; Brian Hooker/Facebook)
Brian has maintained that he had nothing to do with Lynette’s disappearance, and that it was purely an accident driven by windy conditions and choppy seas.
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Before he was jailed, he said he was “heartbroken” over Lynette’s disappearance.
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“I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas,” he wrote. “Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart. We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus.”