The husband of missing boater Lynette Hooker has been released from police custody in connection with her disappearance off a boat in the Bahamas — as horrifying photos of the Michigan mom’s alleged abuse at his hands emerged.
Brian Hooker, 59, was released as the Monday evening deadline passed for police to decide how to proceed with the case after his arrest last Wednesday, the Royal Bahamas Police Force announced.
“The decision to release the individual was made following consultation with the Department of Public Prosecutions, which recommended that no charges be filed at this time pending the outcome of further investigations,” the department said in a statement.
Brian Hooker had been in custody since Wednesday, just days after claiming his wife of nearly 25 years had tumbled from an 8-foot hard dinghy en route to their yacht in Elbow Cay. Facebook/Lynette Hooker
Police said an initial investigation revealed that Lynette Hooker, 55, was swept away by currents after falling from the dinghy she was in with Brian while trying to reach their yacht, the Soulmate. Facebook / Lynette Hooker
Bahamas cops didn’t identify Brian by name, but his attorney, Terrel Butler, confirmed his release to NBC News.
The embattled husband, who has denied any wrongdoing in Lynette’s disappearance, did not respond to reporters’ questions as he left Grand Bahama’s central police station. Butler said her client has been “very emotional” and said he needed to “destress from this horrible experience,” the outlet reported.
Brian has been in custody since Wednesday, just days after claiming his wife of nearly 25 years had tumbled from an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy en route to their yacht in Elbow Cay.
Police said an initial investigation revealed that Lynette, 55, was swept away by currents after falling into the sea from the dinghy she was in with Brian while trying to reach their sailboat, the Soulmate.
During the couple’s excursion from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, Lynette reportedly tumbled overboard with the boat’s keys — causing the vessel’s engine to shut off, police said.
Brian told cops he lost sight of his wife in the rough surf and paddled the small boat back to shore, eventually arriving at Marsh Harbour Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday.
Bahamian authorities had to decide by 7:20 p.m. Monday whether to issue charges after filing an extension on Friday that kept him in custody over the weekend and subject to interrogation.
that her daughter left her husband multiple times after several instances of alleged abuse — including one instance that left her with visible bruising on her back.
“With the lifestyle that my daughter and her husband live, I had been preparing for that phone call for a long time,” Hamlett told Banfield on her show “Drop Dead Serious” of the moment she learned her daughter was missing.
“There was a lot of good times and bad times in my daughter’s relationship with her husband. A lot of highs and a lot of lows. When it was fun, it was really fun, and when there were bad times, they were bad times,” the heartbroken mother said.
The Soulmate, the boat the Hookers were heading to when Lynette fell overboard. Instagram / @the_sailing_hookers
Lynette and Brian Hooker on their dinghy. Facebook/Lynette Hooker
“I think they loved each other, but they were not good for each other,” she said, noting Brian tended to be “mean” and “hateful” and sometimes got physical with her daughter when he drank alcohol.
Lynette often took photos documenting her abuse, reminding her “not to go back” to Brian, despite typically returning to him. Hamlett added that she consulted battered women’s shelters for advice on how to get the couple to separate.
She had even booked a plane ticket a month ago to go home to her mother after indicating that Brian’s abuse was accelerating, Hamlett claimed.
Lynette had also confided in a friend that she was scared of being at sea with Brian.
Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has also been outspoken that she believes “something might have happened” involving her mom and her stepfather when the avid boater vanished at sea Saturday night.
“I do believe something might have happened to her,” she previously told Fox News.
“There’s 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.”
Brian “categorically and unequivocally” denies any wrongdoing linked to his wife’s disappearance, his attorney has said.
Before his arrest, he said he was “heartbroken” his “beloved” wife had gone missing, saying the “winds and currents drove us apart.”
“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 in a Facebook post.
“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.”
The couple had been married for more than two decades and lived in Onsted, Michigan. They had documented their yachting excursions online for the past three years under the amusing moniker “the Sailing Hookers.”
Brian’s attorney and the Royal Bahamas Police Force did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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