Daughter of missing American in the Bahamas seeks answers as search continues
The daughter of a Michigan woman who went missing in the Bahamas during a nighttime boat ride with her husband is desperately seeking answers as the search for her mother has entered day three.
Lynette Hooker's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, describes her mother as an experienced swimmer who has been sailing for more than 10 years. Aylesworth tells CBS News she wants authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident, saying she doesn't believe the sequence of events described by Hooker's husband, Brian Hooker.
Royal Bahamian police said Brian Hooker told investigators that his wife fell over from an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy — along with the keys to the boat — and she was carried away by strong rip currents. Brian Hooker reported that the couple left Hope Town for Elbow Cay on the Bahamian island of Abaco at around 7:30 p.m. local time Saturday, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
With the boat's engine turned off without the keys, Brian Hooker paddled the dinghy to shore, arriving hours later at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, authorities said.
"For one, I don't understand how she got the key," Aylesworth said. "Brian's always driving. So he basically is in charge of the key. So the fact that my mom had it doesn't make any sense."
Brian Hooker later left Aylesworth a voicemail message, which she played for CBS News, where he spoke about a floating device he said he threw to Lynette.
"Hello, honey, it's Dad. I just got a call from Hope Town Search and Rescue, and they found the flotation device that I threw to Mom when she fell overboard," he can be heard saying in the voicemail.
When approached by CBS News on Tuesday, Brian Hooker declined to answer questions about the investigation.
Aylesworth said Brian and Lynette had split up in recent years but got back together.
Bahamian authorities told CBS News that Brian Hooker has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and that this remains a search and rescue mission.
In a statement shared Wednesday, Hooker said he was "heartbroken" and thanked the authorities and volunteers supporting the ongoing search.
"I am heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused by beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas," he said. "Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart. We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus."