BREAKING: U.S. Coast Guard Seizes 'Soulmate' After Fleeing Bahamas | Lynette Hooker Missing

Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

True Crime

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A major new development in the disappearance of Lynette Hooker: the U.S. Coast Guard has seized Soulmate, the 46-foot sailboat Lynette shared with her husband, Brian Hooker, after it reportedly left the Bahamas and was intercepted offshore on its way back to the United States. Exclusive photos and video show the boat being towed into the Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Florida, where it is now in U.S. custody as part of a criminal investigation. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down how Soulmate left Marsh Harbour after weeks on a mooring ball, how the boat was tracked across the water, why the Coast Guard Investigative Service may now have the biggest piece of evidence in the case, and what investigators could be looking for onboard, including forensic evidence, digital data, electronics, clothing, and anything that could challenge Brian Hooker’s account of Lynette allegedly going overboard from the dinghy.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/Lynette-Hooker-Missing-in-Bahamas

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone.
0:07.5	I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop Dead Serious and it is Mother's Day.
0:11.1	I wouldn't expect to be working today on Mother's Day, but I am actually very happy to be working today on Mother's Day.
0:17.8	And I would like to dedicate this episode to Darlene Hamlet and Carly Aylesworth on Mother's Day. And I would like to dedicate this episode to Darlene Hamlet and Carly Aylesworth
0:23.6	on Mother's Day because we've got big news for you and big news for them.
0:30.8	Darlene will not be getting a call from her daughter, Lynette Hooker, to wish her a happy
0:36.3	Mother's Day because Lynette is missing
0:38.0	and presumed dead in the Bahamas. And Carly will not be able to call her mom, Lynette Hooker,
0:44.7	and wish her a happy Mother's Day for the same reason. But I will wish them a happy Mother's Day.
0:51.2	And this gift comes courtesy of the United States Coast Guard and the United
0:58.2	States Coast Guard Investigative Services who grabbed Brian Hooker's 46-foot sloop in
1:08.4	international waters, hooked that thing up and towed it into America this morning.
1:15.6	It is now evidence in a criminal investigation.
1:21.5	And that is very bad news for one Brian Hooker, who says that his wife, Lynette, just
1:26.9	bounced off the back of that dingy
1:28.4	on our way out to the boat, Soulmate, and then he proceeded to bounce right out of the Bahamas
1:33.2	instead of staying to help look for her.
1:36.6	But now Soulmate is in the custody of the United States authorities, and you know they are going
1:43.4	to comb that thing for every piece of forensic
1:46.0	evidence and digital evidence and electronic evidence and anything else on board.
1:51.6	Because they are building a case. They open to criminal investigation. And they are building their
1:56.8	case. And these guys are good. They are great.
	...

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