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MARSH PORT, Bahamas – EXCLUSIVE: A night security guard at a shipyard in a Bahamas Island I met American Brian Hooker when he arrived ashore about eight hours after his wife disappeared in a dark, stormy sea last weekend.
Edward Smith works at Marsh Harbor Boatyards, a boat repair and storage facility in the resort destination, and was alerted by another employee that a man had arrived on the property talking about a key and a woman.
That man was Hooker, 58, who is currently being held in a jail in Freeport, Bahamas, after he said his wife, Lynette Hooker, fell off their boat while returning to their yacht from a bar in Hope Town.
Marsh Harbor Boatyards, where an employee says Brian Hooker washed ashore on an adjacent beach early Sunday, April 5, 2026, after his wife went missing. Photo taken on April 11, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
On Saturday, April 4, Hooker and his wife had been dining and drinking at the Abaco Inn – a restaurant in Hope Town, known to locals as “Elbow Cay” – several miles by sea from the small beach covered in jagged rocks where he landed in Marsh Harbour.
“He said he was on a key, like in a bar, having something to eat or drink, and they left to go somewhere else or get back to their boat, but somehow they got out in bad weather, and they had that incident, the lady [went] overboard, or whatever,” Smith told Fox News Digital on Saturday.
Smith declined to be videotaped or photographed.
Exterior view of the Abaco Inn, Hope Town, Bahamas, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Brian Hooker and his wife, Lynette Hooker were seen dining here on Saturday night before Lynette was reportedly lost at sea after falling off the couple’s boat. (AJ Skuy for Fox News Digital)
prostitute was arrested for questioning as police investigate Lynette’s disappearance. He told police that the sea was rough just after sunset when the couple tried to return to their yacht, and that Lynette fell overboard with the boat key in her pocket, cutting the engine. Hooker floated and rowed the boat for the next few hours and finally reached the shore of the shipyard around 4 a.m. the next day.
“He drifted from that moment to the moment he got here,” Smith said.
A small rocky beach in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, where Brian Hooker is said to have washed ashore in the early morning of April 5, 2026, after his wife Lynette Hooker disappeared. Photo taken on April 11, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
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Police have not charged Hooker with any crime and he maintains that Lynette fell overboard by accident. He was arrested and transported to Freeport, another Bahamian island, on Wednesday. Bahamian law requires a 48-hour limit on holding someone without charging them with a crime.
In special circumstances, that time may be extended. In this case, it was, as Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said Friday night, that officials decided to keep Hooker in custody for up to another 72 hours. The deadline for his release is now Monday night around 7:30 p.m., but he could be released at any time if authorities decide not to press charges against him.
You are asked about the bahamian crime “causing harm resulting in death.”
Smith said Hooker did not seem suspicious when the couple met.
“I was more exhausted than anything else,” Smith said. “He was asking for water. He wanted water to drink.”
“I asked him, ‘Where’s the lady?'” Smith recalled. “He says, ‘she’s in the water.'”
Smith said he asked Hooker what time Lynette fell into the water, to which he replied 7pm, which surprised him.
Marsh Harbor Boatyards, where an employee says Brian Hooker washed ashore on an adjacent beach early Sunday, April 5, 2026, after his wife went missing. Photo taken on April 11, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
“So I say, ‘Starting at seven? And you’re just arriving [the shore] Now?'” Smith said. “He said the wind was blowing really hard, so when that happened, the boat moved away from him and he couldn’t really see in the dark.”
According to Smith, Bryan told him that the last time he saw Lynette, she was swimming back to Hope Town with a yellow bag on her. He said Hooker was also carrying a yellow bag when he came ashore.
Hooker told Smith he tried to call for help from the small boat.
“He said he set off two flares,” Smith said. “The first flare he launched, there was a ship that passed by and they didn’t respond. He said another ship passed“He fired another flare and they didn’t respond.”
Smith called police to help Hooker. He said police arrived around 5 a.m. and Hooker was still talking to them when Smith’s shift ended at 7 a.m.
A small rocky beach in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas, where Brian Hooker is said to have washed ashore early on April 5, 2026, after his wife Lynette Hooker disappeared. Photo taken on April 11, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
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Bahamian authorities have remained silent about the process, but the investigation into Lynette’s disappearance remains ongoing.
A second shipyard employee told Fox News Digital that police returned there on Saturday, but did not elaborate on their activities.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News Digital on Saturday that authorities are searching for Lynette’s body near Hope Town.
