Bahamian authorities have released a 59-year-old man who had been detained following the disappearance of his wife while the couple were sailing in The Bahamas earlier this month, Bahamian Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said on Monday.
The man, identified as Brian Hooker, had been arrested on April 8 after initially being questioned as a witness in the disappearance, his lawyer Terrel Butler said. Butler denied any wrongdoing on Hooker’s part.
According to Butler, Hooker was first questioned on Abaco and later transferred to Grand Bahama, the archipelago’s second most populous island.
Police reports state that Hooker’s wife, 55-year-old Lynette, went missing on April 4 while the couple were traveling from Hope Town, Abaco, to Elbow Cay. The pair were aboard an 8-foot (2.4 m) hard-bottom dinghy called Soulmate when Lynette went overboard, taking the boat’s keys with her.
After losing sight of his wife, police said Brian paddled to shore. Once ashore, he informed another person about the incident and that person alerted police, according to the initial report.
In the days following the disappearance, police took Hooker by boat to search the dinghy Soulmate, Butler said, adding that Hooker remained handcuffed during the operation despite what Butler described as choppy and dangerous sea conditions.
Butler said Hooker was injured during the search after he lost his footing and fell overboard. He sustained a knee injury and an abrasion and was taken to a Grand Bahama hospital for treatment, Butler said.
The sequence of events laid out by police and Hooker’s lawyer covers the immediate actions taken after the woman fell overboard, the subsequent search of the vessel, the man’s temporary detention, and his treatment for injuries incurred during search efforts. The circumstances surrounding Lynette’s disappearance and the current status of any ongoing investigation were not detailed beyond these accounts.