(NEW YORK) — The daughter of Lynette Hooker, an American woman who went overboard in the Bahamas and vanished two months ago, is grateful a U.S. Coast Guard dive team is on the scene conducting new searches.
“She has to be somewhere, so all the help that we could get, it’s greatly appreciated,” Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told ABC News.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service, which is leading the investigation, received permission from the Bahamas to send U.S divers to areas that were previously not searched, according to multiple U.S. officials.
This search comes after forensic evidence found on electronic devices belonging to Lynette Hooker’s husband, Brian Hooker, led investigators to new areas of interest, officials said.
A U.S. official told ABC News that what Brian Hooker told investigators does not match the GPS data recovered from his devices.
Aylesworth told ABC News she doubts her stepfather Brian Hooker’s story and said she’s not spoken with him since the day after her mother went missing.
Aylesworth said she’s hopeful the new search points investigators in the right direction.
“I’m happy they were able to get Brian’s location and discover new areas to look,” she said. “… I know they’re working very hard.”
Lynette Hooker has been missing since the evening of April 4. Brian Hooker told authorities that after the couple departed Hope Town on their dinghy to head to their yacht, called the “Soulmate,” bad weather caused her to go overboard.
Brian Hooker was arrested on April 8 and questioned by police. He was released on April 13 without charges.
On April 14, Brian Hooker told ABC News that he was staying in the Bahamas with a “sole focus” of finding his wife. But hours after that interview, Brian Hooker left the Bahamas, with his attorney saying he wanted to be with his terminally ill mother.
Aylesworth said of her missing mother, “I hope she’s just in Cuba or something, just needing a break from life, living it up. But I feel like at this time, she would have at least contacted my grandma and me. So I don’t, at this point, I don’t really have much faith that she’s out there still alive.”
She added that if she could speak to her mother now, she’d tell her, “I just hope you’re still out there. I have doubts with how long it’s been, but I love you and I hope I can see you again.”
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