Lynette Hooker’s daughter slams stepfather for leaving Bahamas search
Missing US woman’s husband detained in Bahamas, lawyer reveals new details
Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel A. Butler, addresses the arrest of the husband of missing U.S. woman Lynette Hooker, who disappeared in the Bahamas. Butler denied claims of domestic violence by Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, suggesting that her pain and medical history may have influenced her statements. The lawyer describes the difficult sea conditions during the search.
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The daughter of a woman still missing in the Bahamas attacked her stepfather after arriving on the Great Abaco Island on Thursday.
Karli Aylesworth had previously criticized 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 the dinghy around 7:30 p.m., as the pair headed toward their sailboat, which was anchored off 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 disappearance. He was released Monday night without being charged with a crime.
He told multiple news outlets Tuesday morning that he would stay on the island nation to search for Lynette, but he left for the United States on Wednesday and landed in Atlanta in the afternoon, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive at Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas on Thursday, April 16, 2026. Aylesworth is the daughter of missing American woman Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons of NY Post)
COAST GUARD STARTED A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO A MISSING WOMAN WHO WAS SEEN IN THE BAHAMAS RECENTLY.
Aylesworth said: “I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mother at sea and cried on camera saying he would never stop looking and left the next day.” he told the New York Post When he arrived at the town of Marsh Harbor, near where his mother disappeared.
Brian Hooker leaves his hotel in Freeport, Bahamas with attorney Terell A. Butler on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
She stepped off the plane with her boyfriend, Steve Hansen, at the tiny Leonard Thompson International Airport in Marsh Harbor. They were reportedly greeted by a uniformed police officer before boarding the taxi.
Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said he will visit his mother.
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Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive at Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Matthew Symons of NY Post)
“Following his release from custody without charge, Mr. Hooker now faces another emergency. In addition to the trauma of having his wife missing for 25 years, Mr. Hooker received urgent news of his mother’s serious illness,” Butler said. NBC News. “He traveled [the] “The United States will stand by him at this critical time.”
Following her mother’s disappearance, Aylesworth told Fox News Digital that she was aware of “previous issues” with Brian’s behavior.
Brian and Lynette Hooker sit in a boat on the water in this undated photo. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
“There were issues that had previously come to my attention that could be important to a thorough investigation. If this was truly an accident, I can understand and live with that,” Aylesworth said. “However, before this can be determined, an intensive examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic event is required.”
THE MISSING AMERICAN’S HUSBAND RECEIVED ‘CIVILIZED’ CELL SERVICE DURING THE 8-HOUR TRAVEL TO REPORT HIS LOSS: TELECOM BOSS
Karli Aylesworth and her partner Steven Hansen arrive at Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Matthew Symons of NY Post)
Aylesworth stated that he “had very little information” and added that his “only concern was to find out and make sure what happened to my mother.” full and complete investigation It is carried out to make him disappear.”
She also told Fox and Friends that something was “not over” about her mother’s disappearance and accused Brian of having a “history of domestic violence” and anger issues.
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Bahamian police, meanwhile, said that after analyzing “tide, drift and wind” the search for Lynette would end on Thursday and determined there was nowhere else to look. The US Coast Guard investigation continues.
Lynette Hooker went missing after falling from a small boat on Saturday evening. Her husband, Brian Hooker, reported her missing early Sunday morning. (Lynette Hooker/Facebook; Brian Hooker/Facebook)
Brian maintained that he had nothing to do with Lynette’s disappearance and that it was purely an accident caused by windy conditions and rough seas.
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Before he was jailed, he said he was “heartbroken” by Lynette’s disappearance.
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“I am heartbroken over the recent boating accident that occurred in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall off our small boat near Elbow Cay. Bahamas“Despite our desperate attempts to reach him, the winds and currents have driven us further away. We continue to search for him and that is my sole focus.”
