FIRST ON FOX: MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas — The U.S. Coast Guard has arrived in the Bahamas to search for the body of American woman Lynette Hooker, a U.S. official told Fox News Digital.
The Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell arrived in Hope Town around 5 p.m. after departing from Miami on Tuesday. A crew of divers will begin to scour a new area that is about 25 feet deep in the Sea of Abaco.
The Coast Guard was seen arriving at a dock just outside the Abaco Inn in Hope Town on Tuesday. A small Coast Guard boat pulled up to the dock, where crews unloaded some gear before heading back out to sea.
Hooker vanished on April 4 while boating near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands with her husband, Brian Hooker. Her husband has maintained that his wife fell from a dinghy at night and was swept away. Lynette Hooker’s body has not been recovered.
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A family friend and advocate for Lynette Hooker described her as the kind of person who was always there for others.
“She’s the kind of person anybody would be happy to be around in any occasion,” the friend told Fox News Digital. “She’s the type of person after the party that sticks around to help clean up. She’s a person who shows up beforehand to help you set up. She is your go-to person when you need a friend.”
The friend said the news of Lynette’s disappearance was devastating in the tight-knit boating community.
“When we heard somebody was missing in the Bahamas and the boating community, that’s tragic,” the friend said. “When we heard it was Lynette, that was emotional.”
Asked about the possibility that Lynette may no longer be alive, the friend said he is still holding onto hope, however slim.
“I’m still hoping for cabana boys. I know that’s not realistic,” he said. “When the closure comes, we will grieve, and we will be able to answer that more.”
After the vessel left the Bahamas, authorities seized it and the Coast Guard docked Soulmate in Fort Pierce, Florida. Eventually, officials relocated the boat to a port in Fort Lauderdale.
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A U.S. official familiar with the investigation previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that, once pulled from the water, Soulmate would be taken to a warehouse to be combed for clues.
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Investigators are expected to examine the vessel’s electronics, navigation systems and any other potential forensic evidence aboard.
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“Any sort of digital devices that you can take, any computer systems that you can extract, anything of that sort, will be taken in,” said Nicole Parker, former FBI special agent and Fox News contributor.
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Hooker’s disappearance in the Bahamas is being investigated as a murder, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital earlier Tuesday.
But investigators are treating the case as a homicide, the official said, as they review digital evidence, location data and the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, which was recently seized by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Julie Rendelman, a former federal prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney, said prosecutors could face a difficult evidentiary path if charges are filed without Lynette Hooker’s remains being recovered.
“If they were to go forward with charges, they would be going forward with what we tend to call a no-body homicide case,” Rendelman told Fox News Digital.
She said that if Brian Hooker were charged and convicted of murder, he could face severe penalties.
“He could be facing some type of life sentence, if he’s charged and found guilty of murder,” Rendelman said.
Rendelman cited 18 U.S.C. § 1119, the federal statute covering the foreign murder of U.S. nationals. The law applies when a U.S. national kills or attempts to kill another U.S. national while that person is outside the United States but within another country’s jurisdiction.
But Rendelman cautioned that even if a body is found, proving exactly what happened could be difficult without clear physical evidence of foul play.
“Even if they find the body, unless you find a knife wound, a gunshot, some kind of injury, you’re not going to necessarily be able to delineate whether or not he threw her overboard and rode off or she fell off and died of natural causes from drowning,” Rendelman said.
She added that inconsistencies alone would not necessarily be enough to prove murder.
“Inconsistencies do not necessarily prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed his wife,” Rendelman said.
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Brian Hooker was initially detained by Bahamian authorities after Lynette was reported missing, but he was later released.
He has not been charged with any crime or accused of wrongdoing. His attorney could not be reached for comment after numerous attempts by Fox News Digital.
