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“It is not something that has been put to rest,” said Nicole Parker, a Fox News contributor and former FBI special agent.
She addressed a case that has captivated America and has people asking, “Where is Lynette Hooker?”
It’s been six months since the 55-year-old Michigan mother vanished while on a sailing vacation with her husband in the Bahamas.
A 55-year-old American woman, identified as Lynette Hooker, disappeared after going overboard during a boat trip in the Bahamas, according to local officials. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
LYNETTE HOOKER MISSING IN BAHAMAS: TIMELINE OF MICHIGAN WOMAN’S DISAPPEARANCE, HUSBAND’S ARREST
No one has seen nor heard from Hooker since April 4.
According to her husband, Brian, she “went overboard” from a dinghy in Hope Town after the couple went out for drinks that evening. They were making their way back to their sailboat “Soulmate,” he told investigators.
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He was initially detained, questioned and then released by Bahamian authorities. He has not been charged with any crime or accused of wrongdoing.
Brian Hooker leaves his hotel with lawyer, Terell A. Butler in Freeport, The Bahamas, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Hooker was released from police custody the previous night, where he’d been held for questioning in connection to the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
“Just because the public doesn’t exactly see what’s happening, doesn’t mean that it’s not happening behind the scenes,” Parker said.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service continues to actively investigate the case; the agency seized “Soulmate” in May.
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Crime scene tape around the boat, Soulmate, docked at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Fl., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. The vessel, which belongs to Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker, was reportedly brought back to the U.S. from The Bahamas by the USCG. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
They also sent a team of divers to search for any trace of Lynette at the beginning of June. Agents returned to the U.S. with the Hookers’ dinghy that was sent to a forensics lab for testing.
The U.S. Coast Guard retrieved the dinghy used by Brian and Lynette Hooker the night she vanished in the Bahamas. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“Certain pieces of evidence were sent to the FBI lab and to Quantico for investigation, for them to analyze it, and that takes time,” Parker said.
She went on to say, “They’re trying to reconstruct a potential crime scene that occurred in the waters.”
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Parker was the FBI’s Crimes on the High Seas Coordinator and said she knows firsthand how frustrating the slow-moving investigative process can be.
“There were times when even I myself as an investigator, I wanted things to move more quickly. I wanted results, I want it to happen, but these types of cases, they do take time,” she said.
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Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, came forward in July and said publicly she believes her daughter made it back to “Soulmate” before she vanished.
Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in this undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)
“She made it back to the boat, and there was foul play,” Hamlett told Fox News Digital. She did not elaborate on how she reached that conclusion but said she has been limited by the Coast Guard in what she can publicly discuss.
“Remember, there was no one else on the water with them,” Parker said.
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She said the limited release of information “doesn’t mean that there isn’t work going on behind the scenes,” she said.
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As the search for any clues in Lynette’s case continues, Parker said investigators are working around the clock.
U.S. Coast Guard investigators search the boat, Soulmate, docked at their station in Fort Pierce, Fl., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. The vessel, which belongs to Brian Hooker and his missing wife Lynette Hooker, was reportedly brought back to the U.S. from The Bahamas by the USCG. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“They’re doing everything that they can to bring answers. At the end of the day, that’s what Lynette deserves.”
Brian appears to be living a peaceful and quiet life staying at his mother’s home in Citrus Heights, California – northeast of Sacramento.
Brian Hooker, 58, sips on a cup of coffee while standing in a garage. (Kevin Perkins for Fox News Digital)
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Fox News Digital spotted Hooker walking dogs, chatting with neighbors, making trips to a local pharmacy, and even collecting neighbors’ trash items up and down the street.
Brian Hooker rummages through neighborhood trash in California on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. His wife, Lynette Hooker, went missing in The Bahamas in April. (Kevin Perkins for Fox News Digital)
He has not made any recent public statements about his wife’s disappearance.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Brian Hooker’s attorney for comment. The FBI and Coast Guard declined to comment.
