USCG Calls Off New Search for Missing Yacht Cruiser Lynette Hooker

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the disappearance of U.S. national Lynette Hooker as a possible crime, but has not been able to find her body.

Last month, U.S. citizens Brian and Lynette Hooker were on a trip through the Bahamas aboard their sail cruising yacht, Soulmate. On the night of April 4, Lynette Hooker disappeared, and Mr. Hooker reported her absence early the next morning. He said that she had gone over the side of their small 8-foot dinghy, taking the engine's kill switch lanyard with her, and he had gone adrift in the boat and lost sight of her. Bahamian authorities questioned and then released Mr. Hooker, but the Coast Guard Investigative Service is leading its own parallel probe under U.S. jurisdiction.

Lynette Hooker's remains have not yet been found. Last week, in hopes of discovering evidence at a new location in the Bay of Abaco, the Coast Guard re-launched an extensive search using divers, ROVs, UAVs and a cadaver dog. It had support from the authorities in the Bahamas' police and armed forces during the search, and mobilized a Fast Patrol Cutter and a dive team for the operation. As of Friday, that search has been called off, the service said.

The dinghy has been taken into custody and dispatched to the U.S. for forensic teams to examine. The sailboat Soulmate has also been seized for the investigation.

Brian Hooker has since returned to the United States, and has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the case.