The daughter of an American woman who was reportedly swept out to sea during a boat ride with her husband in the Bahamas over the weekend said in an interview with NBC News that her mother was unlikely to “just fall” overboard.
Karli Aylesworth described her mother, Lynette Hooker, 55, as an experienced mariner and a fit person who was unlikely to “just fall” off the boat.
But that’s what her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, said happened during a dinghy ride Saturday night from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, according to local authorities. Aylesworth said her stepfather provided the same account to her during a brief Sunday phone call in which, she said, he sounded “monotone and relaxed."
“I was in shock,” she said. “I was like, my mom’s missing? Like, what?”
Brian Hooker has not responded to NBC News' requests for comment. He wrote Wednesday morning on Facebook that he is "heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas."
"Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart," Brian Hooker said. "We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus."
He added that his family is "deeply grateful" for all the authorities involved in the investigation to bring his wife home and for "everyone for keeping Lynette in your thoughts and for your support of our family during this difficult time."
Aylesworth described the couple’s relationship as volatile, saying they have a “history of not getting along, especially when they drink.”
The couple, from Michigan, 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.
They sailed around the Gulf of Mexico, she said, and eventually got to the Bahamas. She said they sold their home a few years ago and lived full-time on the boat.
They documented part of their Bahamas trip on their TikTok and Instagram pages called “The Sailing Hookers.” In their last TikTok post, the couple had sailed to Great Guana Cay.
They left Hope Town around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, headed to Elbow Cay on an 8-foot, hard-bottom dinghy, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement. The statement did not name Brian Hooker but cited his account of what happened.
The husband told police that his wife had the keys to the boat when she fell into the water, causing its engine to shut off, according to the statement.
He said he had to paddle for hours before he reached Marsh Harbor Boat Yard early Sunday. He told someone what had happened, and that person alerted authorities, according to the statement.
Richard Cook, team lead with Hope Town Volunteer Fire & Rescue, said the wind was 18 to 22 knots and it was dark out Saturday night. There have been strong onshore winds along the East Coast because of the passage of a cold front.
Cook said Tuesday that the effort to find Lynette Hooker was now “a recovery operation.”
The State Department said earlier that it was aware of reports of a missing woman in the Bahamas and that it was “working with Bahamian authorities to provide assistance.”
“Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment at this time,” a spokesperson said Monday.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
It appears the couple had been in the Bahamas since February. On Feb. 11, the couple posted a TikTok video of them sailing on the water.
“Heading to the Bahamas #saillife,” they captioned the video.
Other posts showed them out of the water, snorkeling and at the beach.
Aylesworth said she reached out to the Royal Bahamas Police Force but has not heard back. The agency told NBC News that it has no further updates.
“We’re pretty distraught that this is even happening," Aylesworth said. "I’m still in shock. Like, it’s just surreal.”
