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Major Update Issued in Mystery of U.S. Woman Lost at Sea in Bahamas

Lynette Hooker has not been seen since she apparently fell off a dinghy into the ocean in April.

The Coast Guard has recovered a dinghy that a Michigan woman was said to have been riding before she fell off and went missing two months ago. Lynette Hooker is alleged to have “bounced off” the dinghy and fallen into the ocean while she and her husband, Brian Hooker, were attempting to make their way back to their sailboat during a trip in the Bahamas on April 4. Investigators have been seen surveying the dingy after it was taken to shore aboard a tender boat and returned to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. A life jacket was on the dinghy, with a cadaver dog also at the scene. Brian Hooker, 59, was arrested by Bahamian authorities on April 8 in connection with Lynette’s disappearance, but was released five days later without charge. He denies being responsible for the 55-year-old going missing and said she was swept up by the current after falling off the dingy. He said his wife had the keys to the sailboat when she fell off the dingy, meaning he could not use the vessel to go after her, and was forced to paddle back to shore.