Brian Hooker said his wife fell overboard in the dark, but GPS data from his own phone just sent divers to a completely different area

The search for missing American Lynette Hooker is set to resume in the Bahamas after GPS data from her husband Brian Hooker’s cellphone contradicted his original account of how she went overboard. As detailed by NBC News, Bahamian authorities have authorized a dive team for a renewed effort to locate her.

The new search will focus on a section of the Sea of Abaco where the water is approximately 25 feet deep. A marine navigation app on Brian’s phone provided GPS coordinates placing his device in areas that have not yet been searched, directly challenging his account of events from the night of April 4.

Lynette has been missing since that evening. Brian told Bahamian authorities she fell from their 8-foot dinghy while the couple was traveling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, claiming she had the engine key when she went overboard. He said the waters were rough near Elbow Cay and that he then paddled to Marsh Harbour, arriving around 4:00 AM on April 5.

The GPS data sent investigators to waters that had never been searched

Upon arriving at Marsh Harbour Boatyards, Brian encountered security guard Edward Smith, who later told Fox News Digital that Brian appeared exhausted and asked for water. Smith recalled Brian describing coming from a bar or cay before the incident, and when pressed on why he had not raised an alarm at sea, Brian claimed he fired two flares that passing boats did not respond to.

Brian Hooker has denied any wrongdoing throughout the investigation. He was arrested on April 8, held for five days, and released on April 13 without charges. Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles confirmed he remained a suspect despite his release. Brian returned to the United States on April 15, roughly ten days after Lynette vanished, despite having stated publicly that finding his wife was his sole focus.

He told NBC News, “I’ve never harmed Lynette, and I would never harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette.” A Facebook post he published four days after her disappearance, in which he described a “boat accident in unpredictable seas,” has since been removed.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service seized the couple’s boat, the Soulmate, this month as part of evidence collection, amid domestic criminal cases such as a San Francisco murder case that turned on physical evidence found at the scene. The FBI is processing additional materials from the Hooker investigation at its facility in Quantico, Virginia, though officials have not publicly disclosed what is being examined.

Lynette’s daughter Karli Aylesworth told NBC News she provided DNA to the Coast Guard to assist in the investigation. Lynette’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, has said she has not been kept updated by authorities and has had no contact with Brian Hooker.

Details about the couple’s relationship emerged in the days following the disappearance. Aylesworth previously told NBC News that her mother and Brian had a history of conflict, particularly when drinking. A 2015 Michigan police report documented a mutual assault complaint in which both Lynette and Brian accused each other; the warrant was ultimately denied due to insufficient evidence as to who initiated the altercation. Earlier this month, a Texas stepmother was sentenced to 20 years for a stepson’s death after a legal process that stretched on for years.

Brian Hooker’s Bahamas-based attorney, Terrel A. Butler, has declined to comment on the GPS developments, citing the ongoing investigation. Butler has previously stated that his client denies any wrongdoing in connection with his wife’s disappearance.