Nearly two months after Lynette Hooker went missing during a boat trip in the Bahamas on April 4, her husband Brian Hooker remains a suspect. A friend, Daniel Danforth, says he doesn’t believe the disappearance was an accident, pointing to what he calls incons
For nearly two months, the sea has been holding on to Lynette Hooker.
She disappeared on April 4 during a couple’s trip to the Bahamas. At the time. Brian Hooker. 59. said Lynette. 55. fell from their dinghy during bad weather as they motored back to their yacht. But as the search continues and Lynette has still not been found. Brian has remained a suspect. and a close friend is now pushing back hard on the “accident” explanation.
Daniel Danforth said he believes everything points to the opposite. Appearing on Thursday, May 28, during a NewsNation episode of Katie Pavlich Tonight, Danforth said, “Everything points to it not being an accident at all.”
Danforth also described what he thinks Brian should be doing if Lynette’s disappearance truly was accidental. He said that, in his view, if it was an accident, Brian should have made more effort to seek help and ask for “the resources to come and assist in aid” and “stand up for your own defense.”
What Danforth says he’s noticed since the beginning has only deepened his concerns. He said there hadn’t been “any of that on his part. ” adding that he believes “it hasn’t been nothing but lies from the very beginning.” He pointed to what he described as a lack of a consistent story. from the account Brian told him the day after Lynette disappeared to the account Brian gave their other friend. Blaine Stevenson. Danforth also referenced Brian’s media interview, saying it was followed by Brian leaving the Bahamas.
Danforth said the family deserves the truth, naming Lynette’s mother and her daughters.
Even with his suspicions, Danforth said he’s thankful the investigation is continuing. “Just taking a lot of diligent work and good cases don’t happen overnight and I’m thankful for the authorities and just for continuing their effort [they’ve] put into it and taking the time to build a really good case against him. ” he said.
The dispute over what happened isn’t happening in a vacuum. Friends’ concerns have grown since the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed it is conducting a new search after GPS data contradicted Brian’s account of the events. Officials said Brian’s version of events caused investigators to search “in the wrong area” of the Sea of Abaco when they looked for Lynette. The Coast Guard has since requested permission from Bahamian authorities so divers can resume their search.
Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told the outlet that she provided DNA to the Coast Guard to aid its investigation into her mother’s disappearance.
Brian Hooker has faced the case directly, too. He was taken into custody on April 8, then released on April 13 without charges. Even so, he has remained a suspect as the search goes on.
Brian has denied wrongdoing. In April, he told NBC News, “I’ve never harmed Lynette, and I would never harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette.”
The facts of the timeline—April 4 disappearance. custody on April 8 and release on April 13 without charges. the ongoing search. and the Coast Guard’s decision to conduct a new search after GPS contradicted Brian’s account—leave the investigation in a place where certainty is still out of reach. And for Danforth, that uncertainty is precisely why the “accident” story doesn’t hold.
What remains is the question that has driven friends, family, and investigators back to the water again and again: where is Lynette Hooker, and why does the story about how she disappeared keep colliding with the evidence that follows?
Lynette Hooker Brian Hooker Daniel Danforth Bahamas disappearance U.S. Coast Guard Sea of Abaco GPS data Katie Pavlich Tonight NewsNation Karli Aylesworth
So it wasn’t an accident then? Smh.
I don’t get how he’s still a suspect if she fell overboard. Like yeah weather was bad but… if someone fell, shouldn’t there be something way more obvious? Idk what “resources to come and assist” even means though.
Wait, the friend Daniel Danforth is like saying it’s lies from the beginning but also “lack of a consistent story”?? That could be stress or shock, not automatically foul play. Also why did Brian leave the Bahamas right after the interview… doesn’t that part sound normal to go home and deal with stuff? I’m confused.
This headline makes it sound like Brian did it, but half the article is just him not doing “resources” fast enough. If she went over in rough seas, chances of finding her are basically zero, so what’s he supposed to do, teleport? The “two different stories” thing doesn’t prove anything either because people remember stuff different the next day. Still though, leaving after the media interview sounds sketchy, so I guess I can see why they’re suspicious.