Brian Hooker, in recordings of phone calls, text messages, and maps that he made, obtained and confirmed by CBS News, recounted what allegedly happened the night his wife, Lynette, disappeared more than a week ago.
Hooker, who has previously told police his wife fell off their small boat and was swept out to sea, was arrested on Wednesday night.
Attorney Terrel Butler, who represents Brian Hooker in a criminal investigation by the Bahamian Royal Police Force, has consistently said he denies any wrongdoing, is heartbroken by the incident and wants to be released from custody so he could search for his wife.
During a nearly 40-minute phone conversation while search and rescue efforts were still ongoing on April 7, Hooker told friends Marnee and Blaine Stevenson in descriptive detail what led to the incident where his wife allegedly went missing. Hooker said he had a phone on him during the incident but it did not work because it was only able to make calls with Wi-Fi.
Hooker told the Stevensons that on Saturday April 4, Brian and Lynette anchored their sailboat “Soulmate” on Aunt Pat’s Bay in Elbow Cay from there they hopped on a dinghy to start their day.
“There’s a place called Tahiti Beach it’s really popular here and it’s a beach that dries out at low tide,” Hooker said to the Stevensons in a phone call. “A barge pulls up on it and serves drinks all day.”
Tahiti Beach is in shallow water and located on the southern tip of Elbow Cay.
Following Tahiti Beach, the couple used their 8-foot hard bottom dinghy to go to a restaurant at the Abaco Inn, located near Hope Town, a small island village located in Bahamas’ Abaco Islands.
A manager there told CBS News the Abaco Inn is cooperating with authorities and had no further comment.
Maps apparently made by Brian Hooker and shared with friends and boaters, obtained by CBS News, detail his version of events.
The maps he apparently created show that the incident happened in shallow water, under 10 feet at high tide.
Conditions in Hope Town at the time, according to CBS News meteorologist Andrew Kozak, were challenging for boating due to high sustained winds at around 15 to 25 knots with gusts sometimes exceeding 40 mph and a few showers. However, the impact in shallow waters would’ve been significantly less than on the open sea.
The vessel traveled four miles from the point where Hooker says the incident happened to the Marsh Harbour Boat Yards, where he was found at 4 a.m. the morning of Sunday, April 5. That is eight hours after he says his wife fell off the dinghy.
