Disappearance of wife who fell overboard during Bahamas trip with husband now being treated as murder, with new GPS sparking hopes her body may finally be discovered

The investigation into a missing wife who fell overboard while sailing in the Bahamas with her husband is now being treated as a murder investigation, authorities say.

Lynette Hooker, 55, fell from a boat in rough conditions off Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands on April 4, and her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, said she was lost in the waters.

In a dramatic update on the incident on Tuesday, a US official told Fox News that the incident is currently being treated as a murder investigation.

The US Coast Guard added that it would send a dive team to search the waters where Lynette went overboard after GPS data from Brian’s phone showed her movements contradicted the initial story she gave investigators.

Brian claimed he had to row for several hours to reach a nearby island after his wife fell overboard, but investigators said they now believe they were searching the ‘wrong area’ when searching for Lynette.

This came just days after authorities said investigators were authorized to search the couple’s ship, the Soulmate, which was taken to Florida after the tragedy.

Their boat was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard at the beginning of the case and will be investigated by investigators at a warehouse in Fort Lauderdale for any clues about her disappearance.

‘Any digital device you can pick up, any computer system you can pull out, anything of that nature [will be taken in]Former FBI agent Nicole Parker told Fox News at the time:

Their boat, which was later taken to Fort Lauderdale, will be searched by authorities.

Brian was not charged with his wife’s disappearance.

“I never hurt Lynette and I will never hurt Lynette and I want to find Lynette,” he told NBC News in April.

Brian’s lawyer Terrel Butler previously told the Daily Mail: ‘He categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing.’

The husband was initially detained by Bahamian authorities for five days following his wife’s disappearance, but was released without charge and later returned to the United States.

Parker said that although the case arose in the Bahamas, the FBI became involved in the investigation because both the suspect and the victim were U.S. citizens and their ships were registered in the United States, which “gives authority to the United States.”

Brian, who described his disappearance to police, said that he and his wife were heading towards their sailboat in a boat and encountered rough conditions on the water.

Lynette said they paddled against strong currents until they crashed into the sea around 7:30 p.m.

Brian said he desperately paddled to shore for hours and only reached the Great Abaco island around 4 a.m. the next morning.

But the timeline has been called into question, as the couple’s friend Daniel Danforth and a local bartender were among those who publicly questioned the story.

The Coast Guard reopened the search after new GPS evidence from the boat contradicted what Brian told authorities, authorities said.

Brian has not been charged in his wife’s disappearance and maintains his innocence

Danforth said last month that although Brian searched the waters for hours for Lynette, he allegedly failed to inform investigators of a high-tech camera, known as a FLIR system, that could have aided in the search.

Danforth told Fox News that “if I was trying to save someone, the camera would be my first choice,” but claimed Brian didn’t tell investigators about it.

“I told them about it and they were very interested,” he said. ‘This was the first time they had heard of this system being on the boat. And because it had a serial number, they told me they were going to issue a seizure warrant for it.’

Danforth had previously shared messages between himself and Brian in which Brian said he saw his wife swimming ‘toward the sailboat’ before they ‘quickly lost sight of each other.’

“I drifted and tried to row with one oar for the next seven hours until I came to the shore of the next island and was finally able to get some help,” he messaged Danforth on Facebook.

Local bartender Ken, 38, who did not give his last name, also said he served the husband and wife on the night of Lynette’s disappearance last month and did not believe the timeline was accurate.

He said the couple had been drinking at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay in the Bahamas earlier in the evening and downed several rounds of rum and Coke.

But although he thought their encounter was inconsequential at the time, Ken began to think Brian’s story was meaningless when he saw the news of Lynette’s disappearance.

The couple’s friend Daniel Danforth (pictured with his wife) questioned Brian’s perspective on things because his husband didn’t mention the thermal camera on the Soulmate

Bahamian bartender Ken, 38, who served Brian and Lynette Hooker the night before they disappeared at sea, says he does not believe the timeline of her disappearance is accurate

The bartender said he doubted Brian’s story that it took him all night to paddle around Embow Cay (pictured) after his wife fell overboard.

He said he found it “strange” that Brian had told authorities that he had rowed into Marsh Harbour, a bay a few kilometers across from the bar at Elbow Cave, throughout the night after Lynette “went overboard” – believing it should not have taken her that long.

‘What catches my eye is that they left here at 7, 7:30 and [her going missing] “It supposedly happened right after they left here, and he didn’t get there until 4 o’clock in the morning or something like that in 25 mph winds,” he told the New York Post.

‘It’s only four miles that way. “It shouldn’t have taken eight to 10 hours to get there,” he said.

‘Even if he was just swimming, he would have to be much faster.’