Brian Hooker: Why Experienced Boaters Don’t Buy His Missing Wife Story

This weekend, investigative journalist Brian Entin took another look at the disappearance of Lynette Hooker, the wife of Brian Hooker in the Bahamas.

Previously, he spoke with Lynette’s daughter Carly, and she didn’t believe Brian’s story. And it seems their acquaintances reassessed their opinions of him as well. Read on to find out more.

A Short Recap First

During his Brian Entin Investigates podcast, Entin introduced Blaine Stevenson who met the Hookers while sailing in Florida back in 2023. But first, for those true crime followers who might have missed the story so far, Entin did a short recap.

He explained how Brian Hooker claimed his wife Lynette fell off their dinghy in rough water near Hopetown, Bahamas.

Hooker claimed that his wife pretty much bounced off the back of a dinghy. But, nobody could understand how she disappeared. Apparently it happend in a place so shallow you could swim and walk to safety.

Recently, the US Coast Guard seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, in Fort Pierce, Florida. And the news arrived they run an active criminal investigation.

Bahamian police released only three brief statements since the incident. So, there’s a lot of interest in the case right now.

Trust At First

During his chat, Blaine Stevenson told Entin that he and his wife trusted Brian Hooker completely at first.

Not extremely close, they remained in touch via social media. But, they were close enough to feel shocked when they heard that Lynette Hooker apparently fell overboard in the Bahamas.

In fact, they tried to start up some sort of support group for Brian. Initially, they bonded as Hooker helped Blaine and his wife as newbies in the sailing scene. And, they shared a common history in the military.

Turning To Suspicion

Determined to help in any way they could, Blaine talked about trying to assist remotely. However, things seemed to not add up. After a long discussion with Brian Hooker, he decided that Brian’s story “didn’t make linear sense” to him.

What caught his attention is that the timeline didn’t line up. In his opinion, the weather, the life vests left inside the dinghy, and the way Brian talked about the emergency flares all felt wrong.

Stevenson said, “The flares were the thing that just didn’t make sense to me.”

Not Adding Up

He also pointed to the life vests. Brian admitted they didn’t wear them and they had the necessary number of them available. Stevenson recalled thinking, “My brain is like, well, the Coast Guard requires like you had two life vests.”

Clearly, it seemed a bit strange to an experienced person who spent time on the ocean.

Video and security footage from the area later showed the water wasn’t rough at the time Brian claimed his wife fell overboard. Actually, Ashleigh Banfield from Drop Dead Serious already did a deep dive into that aspect.

Stevenson explained, “We can see that it hadn’t gotten bad yet.”

A Toxic Relationship

The interview also covered the couple’s rocky past. Stevenson revealed that the Hookers broke up for a while between December 2023 and January 2024. Actually, that tied in with Lynette Hooker’s daughter’s claim.

Stevenson recalled that his wife chatted online with Lynette and she recieved messages from Lynette saying Brian got “bad” and “angry.”

Actually it seemed quite toxic because Lynette allegedly claimed she “couldn’t cruise with him anymore and be alone on a boat with him.”

An Aggressive Personality

They eventually got back together and chose a sober lifestyle. But Stevenson noticed Brian’s “aggressive” nature showed up in his political posts on social media.

He said, “He was very actively involved and very actively angry and very actively aggressive.” At the time, Stevenson saw it as passion. Looking back, he thought, “That showed some personality I didn’t think transferred over, but it likely did.”

Not Enough Done For Lynette?

Stevenson noted, like many true crime followers on social media, that the criminal investigation took attention away from finding Lynette.

He told Entin, “Brian’s sucking the oxygen out of Lynette’s air right now as far as she’s the one missing.”

Next, the duo discussed how Brian Hooker hired an attorney for a press conference, then didn’t turn up to say anyhting about Lynette.

Stevenson opined, “That was almost like a magician’s trick of look, I’m over here, but he wasn’t in that interview.”

Moving the boat back to Florida also seemed odd. “It’s an awful lot of money wasted to not show up,” Stevenson said.

A Private Search

With Brian Hooker’s current location unknown, it seems frustration grows. Stevenson would very much like permission for a private effort to locate Lynette Hooker.

He added, “I want the Bahamas to give us permission to do a comprehensive search of the Bahamas with professionals with family to find Lynette.”

Viewers React

Blaine’s insight as a fellow boater impressed viewers on YouTube because he knows about things like life vests and weather. But more than that, he cares about Lynette Hooker.

One person opined, “Brian’s friend cares more about finding Lynette than Brian does.”

Here are a few more responses from the discussion:

• I like the way he’s able to be objective even though he was friends with BH.
• His [Brian Hooker] story is ridiculous…i hope he doesn’t get away with it.
• Blaine and Marnie have only known Lynette and Brian for 4 years, yet they have shown more compassion and urgency about finding Lynette than Brian ever has.
• I agree that a thorough search needs to be done asap! Praying they find Lynette for her daughter…

What are your thoughts? Shout out in the comments below, and remember to come back here often for all your true crime news and updates. Plus, remember we have a TikTok channel you can follow for other crime updates.