Additional Coverage:
- Sailboat tracking data went dark for 11 hours the night missing American vanished in the Bahamas (foxnews.com)
Brian Hooker’s sailboat ceased transmitting its location the same night his wife, Lynette Hooker, went missing in the Bahamas, according to data reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The couple had departed from Hope Town around 7:30 p.m. on April 4. Brian Hooker reported to authorities that rough waters caused Lynette to fall off their dinghy. Brian then paddled to shore, reaching Marsh Harbour at approximately 4 a.m. the next day, per official statements.
The Hookers were returning to their sailboat, Soulmate-their full-time residence in retirement-when the incident occurred. The pair frequently navigated waters throughout the U.S. and Caribbean, as documented on their social media accounts.
Marine tracking data obtained from VesselFinder reveals that the Soulmate’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), which broadcasts a vessel’s identity, speed, and position, went offline at 9:29 p.m. on April 4 and remained inactive until 8:40 a.m. the following morning-a blackout lasting over 11 hours.
Blaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker, told Fox News Digital that after a three- to four-hour search with rescue officials on April 5, Brian returned to the sailboat and stayed aboard for nearly 24 hours.
Kenneth Engerrand, an adjunct professor of maritime law at the University of Houston Law Center, described the AIS blackout’s timing as “highly unusual.” He explained that an AIS may stop transmitting due to catastrophic failure, a collision, or if deliberately turned off. “It doesn’t just go off and then come back on,” Engerrand noted.
Additional AIS outages were recorded between April 10 and 13.
Brian Hooker was detained for five days by Bahamian authorities following his wife’s disappearance but has not been charged with any crime.
Between May 8 and 10, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the sailboat approximately 40 nautical miles off the coast of Melbourne, Florida. The vessel was transported to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for processing as part of a “complex surveillance and interdiction operation.”
Brian Hooker’s attorney, Crystal Marie Hauser, has urged the public to withhold judgment. In an interview with ABC News, she requested that people “give him the benefit of the doubt” and recognize that individuals cope with difficult situations in varied ways.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hauser for further comment. The investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance remains ongoing.