Nearly Two Months Later, Coast Guard Makes New Move In Missing Mom Case

The United States Coast Guard is returning to the Bahamas to search a new area for the body of missing Michigan mother Lynette Hooker as investigators continue probing her disappearance,  Fox News reports.

The renewed search comes as Hooker’s husband, Brian, has stayed out of the spotlight since leaving the Bahamas, where he claims his wife fell off their dinghy nearly two months ago.

The mysterious disappearance is now being investigated as a possible homicide, according to Fox News. The U.S. Coast Guard has described its efforts as a criminal investigation since the April 4 incident.

The latest developments come as investigators continue to review evidence recovered from the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, along with any digital evidence and location data. The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) seized the vessel roughly 40 nautical miles off the coast of Melbourne, Florida, on May 14.

The seizure followed what authorities described as a complex surveillance and interdiction operation by the CGIS with help from the operational Coast Guard surface from Sector Miami and aviation assets from Air Station Miami.

The Coast Guard’s latest search effort will focus on Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas. A dive team departing from Miami on Tuesday is expected to search a 25-foot-deep area in the Sea of Abaco.

Brian Hooker claimed rough seas and strong currents swept his wife away before he could reach her. But members of Lynette Hooker’s family have expressed doubts about that account.

WATCH FROM TODAY’S EPISODE OF MORNING WIRE:

“There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation. If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,” Lynette’s daughter Karli Aylesworth told Fox News in April. “However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.”

Just last week, Aylesworth told NBC News that she provided DNA to the Coast Guard to help investigators searching for her mother.

Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, told NBC that authorities have not kept her up to date on the investigation. She also said she has not spoken with Brian Hooker, who previously vowed he would never stop searching for his wife of more than two decades.

As the investigation continues, legal experts say the case could present challenges if Lynette Hooker’s body is never recovered.

Julie Rendelman, a former federal prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney, told Fox News that so-called “no-body” homicide cases can be difficult to prosecute because investigators must prove a death occurred without recovering remains.