A Michigan mother who vanished overboard while sailing in the Bahamas with her husband made a haunting joke about her marriage days before she disappeared.
Lynette Hooker, 55, plunged into the Abaco Islands’ water while traveling with partner Brian Hooker, 59, on Saturday.
The couple had been living on their sailboat Soulmate for the past four years and were vlogging their voyage from Texas to Michigan on social media.
In a short video posted to their YouTube channel on April 3, Lynette poked fun at suggestions that the couple may grow irritated with one another after spending so much time together.
‘Don’t you two ever get sick of each other?’ an overlay text on the meme-like clip asked.
Beneath the question was text reading ‘me and my husband,’ accompanied by two people dancing to the 90s dance hit Be My Lover by La Bouche.
The couple’s well-curated social media profiles depicted two seemingly happy and in-love partners traveling the world together.
But Brian has since been arrested in connection to Lynette’s disappearance, with his stepdaughter Karli Aylesworth alleging there was violence in the couple’s marriage.
Lynette Hooker, 55, went missing in the Bahamas after falling overboard during a boat ride with her husband on Saturday
Lynette Hooker was said to have fallen from a dinghy as she and her husband Brian were making their way back to their sailboat, Soulmate
Brian ‘categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing’ and is cooperating with authorities, his lawyer said in a statement.
He was detained on the Abaco Islands on Wednesday, five days after he returned from a sailing expedition without Lynette and claimed she fell overboard.
The Royal Bahamas Police said Brian was questioned ‘on probable cause’ and was taken into custody as a suspect in connection with his wife’s disappearance. He has not been formally charged.
Officials said the couple were experienced sailors who had been traveling together for more than a decade, often documenting their life at sea on social media.
On Saturday evening, they took out an eight-foot motorboat from Hope Town in the Bahamas, but only Brian returned.
He told authorities that his wife fell overboard with the boat keys as they were returning to their yacht ‘Soulmate’, causing the engine to shut off and forcing him to paddle to the shore.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Brian said he is ‘heartbroken’ by his wife’s disappearance, describing the incident as a ‘boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds.’
‘Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart,’ Brian said. ‘We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus.’
In a short video posted to their YouTube channel on April 3, Lynette poked fun at suggestions that the couple may grow irritated with one another after spending so much time together
Brian Hooker said he last saw his wife fell overboard in strong currents and he ‘lost sight of her’
Brian Hooker was arrested in the Bahamas on Wednesday in connection to Lynette’s disappearance. He ‘categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing’
His attorney Terrel Butler said Brian ‘categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing’ in his wife’s disappearance, saying he ‘has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.’
Lynette’s distraught daughter Karli Aylesworth has called for a full investigation into the tragedy after she said her parents went through ‘prior issues’ before her mother’s disappearance.
Aylesworth told NBC News that it is unlikely her mother would ‘just fall’ off the boat, saying she was an experienced sailor.
The couple had been sailing for years and documented their voyages on social media under the moniker, The Sailing Hookers.
Aylesworth claimed that Lynette and Brian’s relationship was volatile and that they have a ‘history of not getting along, especially when they drink.’
In a separate interview with Fox News, she detailed an alleged history of domestic violence in her mother and stepfather’s relationship.
‘There is a history of him choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So, the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there’s more to the story,’ she told the outlet.
‘There has also been a history of domestic violence in that relationship, so I do believe something might have happened to her.’
Lynette was an experienced sailor and her daughter claimed it is unlikely she would ‘just fall’ off the boat
Lynette’s daughter Karli Aylesworth called for a full investigation into the events leading up to her mother’s fatal fall and says her stepfather didn’t tell her of the tragedy for 24 hours
Aylesworth, now 28, pictured on mother’s lap in undated photo
Aylesworth also told WXYZ-TV she doubted her mother survived and was able to tread water that long, but hoped to find her to get closure.
Butler’s statement said that Brian’s denial of wrongdoing includes in particular ‘the allegations recently made by Karli Aylesworth.’
A source close to the family told the Daily Mail that Brian only called his stepdaughter a full day after Lynette went missing.
’So more than 24 hours later. We don’t know why. We don’t know if he was busy looking,’ said the source. ‘We just don’t know.
‘Karli has not really been back in contact since because she finds the circumstances a little suspicious.
‘They were a couple literally living on the bigger boat for four years and it would be hard for them to misjudge the chop if it was bad. They would have said, “hey, maybe we shouldn’t do this.”‘
On the hint referring to her ‘prior issues’ comment, the source said: ‘I’ve tried to tell her all relationships have disagreements. Her mom did tell her some stuff, but she doesn’t want to reveal anything more.
‘Karli was down in the Bahamas with them both at the end of February, beginning of March and she was actually on the boat at a slightly different place.’
After Brian’s arrest on Wednesday, Lynette’s mother Darlene Hamlett said she was ‘glad to hear’ that he had been detained.
She declined further comment, saying she was seeking more information.
Lynette and Brian had been married for more than two decades and lived in Onsted, Michigan
Earlier Wednesday, Hamlett said she wanted to hear more from her son-in-law about how Lynette vanished.
‘I’m going to be interested in what he says, because I haven’t heard from him in almost two days,’ Hamlett said.
‘Our family grew up on water and so Lynette her whole life has been near lakes, on boats, sailing and swimming.
‘It would be a miracle if [she’s rescued], but I’m still counting on one,’ Hamlett added.
Lynette and Brian had been married for more than two decades and lived in Onsted, Michigan.
Brian finally broke his silence in a Wednesday morning Facebook post, writing that he is ‘heartbroken’ over Lynette’s disappearance.
‘I am 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,’ he wrote.
‘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.’
