Brian Hooker smiled for photographers Monday as he left a Bahamas police station where officials decided not to file any crime charges related to the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker.
Hooker, 59, of Michigan wore a white short-sleeve shirt and dark slacks as he calmly walked out of the Central Police Station in Freeport shortly after police missed a deadline of 7:20 p.m. to file charges against him, the New York Post reports. Brian Hooker refused to discuss his treatment while in custody and gave no public statement about his missing wife who disappeared April 4.
Missing in Bahamas: Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, shared a photo that Lynette took of herself. It appears to show bruising Lynette claims happened after her husband, Brian Hooker, attacked her. Darlene says her daughter took the photo as a reminder not to go back to… pic.twitter.com/cuAMdUs5N0
— . (@TVAshleigh) April 13, 2026
Questions remain about whether the husband of missing Lynette Hooker will be allowed to leave the Bahamas following his release from custody. Brian Hooker spent five days in custody while police probed the disappearance of his wife of nearly a quarter-century. Authorities said Hooker was released pending further investigation but it was unclear if he will be allowed to leave the country. Hooker’s lawyer, Terrel Butler, told Fox News Digital she isn’t sure if he even has his passport.
When asked if he is free to depart, she said she would need to “discuss that further with him and the police.” Butler added that she and Hooker planned to meet Tuesday. Authorities were required to either charge Hooker by Monday night or release him. Butler said she did not receive any update from officials after that deadline passed.
Calling police behavior “totally unacceptable and disrespectful,” Butler criticized law enforcement officials. The husband of Lynette Hooker was freed after “consultation with prosecutors,” who decided not to press charges at this time. The investigation is ongoing and authorities continue to solicit information from the public.
Brian Hooker, Lynette Hooker’s husband, told police that his wife fell overboard while the couple was leaving Hope Town for Elbow Cay on the Bahamian island of Abaco at around 7:30 pm Saturday night. Hooker told the Royal Bahamas Police Force that strong currents carried her out… pic.twitter.com/JqbXohqQTE
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 7, 2026
Authorities in the Bahamas were told Lynette Hooker, 55, a Michigan mother of two, slipped off of her feet and fell overboard from the couple’s dinghy April 4 while trying to reach their yacht, Soulmate. The boat was moored in Elbow Cay. Brian told police she dove into the water with the key to the dinghy’s engine, killing the motor. He claimed he then paddled for shore, not reaching the Marsh Harbour boat yard until about 4 a.m. the following morning.
Upon arrival, he reportedly told a security guard, Edward Smith, that his wife had gone overboard in “rough weather.” Hooker also claimed he fired two flares, but said passing boats did not respond to his distress signals when questioned about the delay in reporting her missing.
“I asked him, ‘So, where is the lady?’ He says, ‘She’s in the water,’” Smith told Fox News Digital. Smith also said Lynette Hooker’s appeared “exhausted” and was asking for water, adding that he did not initially find him suspicious. The guard contacted police who arrived about 5 am local time. Hooker was still speaking with officers two hours later when Smith’s shift ended.
While Brian Hooker was in custody, investigators searched the yacht Soulmate for electronic devices, including cell phones and laptops, as part of the ongoing probe. According to a police warrant reviewed by CBS, the items could be “material evidence and or contains material evidence related to a missing person causing bodily harm.”
Brian Hooker leaving his hotel earlier this morning after his release from jail last night.
He remains in the Bahamas.
A criminal investigation by Bahamian police and U.S. authorities remains ongoing. pic.twitter.com/PdQJdyd3Xf
— Peter D’Abrosca (@pmd_reports) April 14, 2026
Lynette’s mother claimed her daughter had separated from Brian Hooker multiple times over the years and was preparing to leave the marriage permanently before she vanished. She alleged that Hooker could become “mean” and “hateful” when drinking and said she had long worried about her daughter’s safety, sharing those concerns during an appearance on Drop Dead Serious.
Court records also show that Brian Hooker previously faced a child abuse charge stemming from a 2005 incident involving his daughter. According to documents, he was arrested in December of that year after his former partner, Elizabeth Hoseth, contacted Michigan’s Kentwood Police Department alleging he assaulted their homeschooled child.
The girl, whose age was not disclosed, had been visiting Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker when an argument reportedly erupted over a science book. Hoseth told police that Hooker was upset because he didn’t want the child exposed to religious teachings, stating “[She] said that her dad was upset about what the book said because he didn’t want [her] to believe in God,” according to a report reviewed by the New York Post.
Hoseth alleged that Hooker chased the girl upstairs, where a stepdaughter witnessed what happened next. “She saw her dad hold [the daughter] up in the air by the neck,” the report states. In a separate interview, the stepdaughter claimed Hooker lifted the girl’s feet more than a foot off the ground during the incident.
“She turned, and he grabbed her around the neck and picked her up by her neck, slammed her against the wall, and started choking her. He was holding her above his head,” the police report states. According to the documents, Hooker demanded respect while choking the child and allegedly called her “s–thead, a stuck-up manipulative b–ch.” He later released her and reportedly said “he was disappointed that he hadn’t left his thumbprints.”
Photos included in the report showed red marks on the girl’s neck, and she was said to have suffered a neck strain. Brian Hooker later sent the boy’s stepfather an email apologizing “the kids and I had a rough time tonight” and said he had been goaded after being repeatedly called “a bastard” during a dispute over the book.
Hooker was arrested and charged with fourth-degree child abuse on Nov. 22, 2005, and ordered not to see his children. At his trial, Lynette testified that Hooker had not choked their daughter. The charge was dropped Feb. 2, 2006, and no additional information was provided.
In February 2015, police responded to another domestic violence incident at the couple’s house. Officers said he and Lynette Hooker were both drunk, and Brian Hooker had blood coming from his nose. He told police that Lynette Hooker had punched him several times, while Lynette accused Hooker of choking her and punching her in the forehead.
Neither sought medical attention and no charges were filed after authorities were unable to establish who was the aggressor.
These past incidents resurfaced after Lynette Hooker’s daughter from a previous relationship, Karli Aylesworth, alleged her stepfather had a violent side, claiming he had previously choked Lynette and threatened to throw her overboard.
