U.S. Coast Guard seizes sailboat in Lynette Hooker disappearance probe

The U.S. Coast Guard has taken custody of Soulmate, the sailboat Brian and Lynette Hooker used in the Bahamas, adding a federal law-enforcement step to a disappearance case already shaped by competing timelines, witness interviews and mounting family pressure.

The seizure came as the Coast Guard Investigative Service deepened its inquiry into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance. Investigators had already been interviewing potential witnesses, and last week they released images of another sailboat they wanted to identify so they could speak with its owners or occupants. The case now sits at the intersection of Bahamian and U.S. maritime jurisdiction, with federal investigators empowered to look for evidence of suspected criminal activity and, if warranted, make arrests.

Lynette Hooker was last seen near Aunt Pat’s Bay, close to Elbow Cay and Hope Town, on the night of April 4. Brian Hooker told authorities that she fell overboard during a nighttime dinghy ride after the couple had departed Hope Town on the Abaco Islands for their yacht Soulmate around 7:30 p.m. He has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged.

The timeline has remained central to the investigation. Brian Hooker was arrested in the Bahamas on April 8, held for five days and later released without charges. His current whereabouts were not known in the report that described the seizure, and his U.S.-based attorney did not comment. Investigators have also been examining the movements of vessels in the area, including the sailboat they photographed last week and the Soulmate itself as it left Marsh Harbour on Friday and headed toward the United States before the Coast Guard took it into custody on Saturday.

Family members have kept the case visible beyond law enforcement channels. Karli Aylesworth, Lynette Hooker’s daughter, created a GoFundMe on April 7 that said her mother had been missing in the Bahamas since 4/4/26 and that donations would help with search efforts or memorial expenses. Aylesworth later told TODAY that she spent three hours speaking with police, visited the boat where her mother lived and said, “I just want to know the truth.”

With Soulmate now seized, the investigation has entered a more formal evidentiary phase. The boat itself may hold records, objects or damage that help investigators test the competing accounts of what happened near Elbow Cay. For a case built on open water, distance and conflicting versions, custody of the vessel could prove as important as any witness statement.