A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of an American woman whose husband said she fell from a boat in the Bahamas, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
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The agency did not identify the man who is in custody or say what charges he may face. Relatives and U.S. officials have identified the woman who fell from the boat as Lynette Hooker, 55.
Her husband, Brian Hooker, has said his wife fell in the water Saturday night during rough seas on a dinghy ride from Hope Town to Elbow Cay.
The police force said the man was being questioned after being taken into custody shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday in Marsh Harbour, a town in Abaco Islands.
Earlier Wednesday, an official with the U.S. Coast Guard said the military branch had opened a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance. The official declined further comment on the matter.
Brian Hooker has said his wife fell in the water Saturday night during rough seas on a dinghy ride from Hope Town to Elbow Cay.
The police force said a 59-year-old American was being questioned after being taken into custody shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday in Marsh Harbour, a town in Abaco Islands.
The police force did not identify the man in its news release, nor did it name Lynette Hooker, but provided details about the case the aligned with information about her disappearance.
Local authorities said Tuesday that the effort to find her was a “recovery operation.”
“Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart,” Brian Hooker said Wednesday on Facebook. “We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus.”
Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has questioned that account, saying it seemed unlikely that she would “just fall” overboard.
The Michigan couple are experienced on the water and have been sailing for more than a decade, starting with a small two-person sailboat and moving to a larger vessel they bought in Texas, Aylesworth said.
The Royal Bahamas police have previously said the pair left Hope Town in an 8-foot, hard-bottom dinghy, about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, headed for Elbow Cay.
Brian Hooker told police that Lynette had the keys to the boat when she went overboard, which caused the dinghy’s engine to shut off, according to a police statement.
He paddled for hours before making it to Marsh Harbor Boat Yard early Sunday, he told police. According to the police statement, Brian Hooker told someone what had happened, and that person alerted authorities.
In his Facebook message Wednesday, Brian Hooker said that he was “heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall.”
