U.S. Coast Guard now has boat of husband of woman who went missing in Bahamas

The United States Coast Guard has taken possession of the sailboat owned by the American man whose wife disappeared in the Bahamas last month, an official said Monday.

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The official, from the Coast Guard’s Fort Pierce station, referred additional questions about “Soulmate” to the military branch’s Miami office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

A Michigan-based attorney for Brian Hooker did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hooker could not be reached for comment.

Hooker told authorities in the Bahamas that his wife, Lynette Hooker, vanished after she fell from the couple’s dinghy on the evening of April 4 while traveling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay.

In a phone call to a friend, he said they were not wearing life jackets and she “basically just bounced off the dinghy” amid 20 mph winds. She fell overboard with the key to the vessel’s engine, forcing him to paddle, he has said.

Local authorities arrested Brian Hooker in connection with her disappearance on April 8 — the same day a U.S. Coast Guard official said the branch had opened a criminal investigation into the matter.

Hooker was released five days later without charges.

“I’ve never harmed Lynette, and I would never harm Lynette, and I want to find Lynette,” he told NBC News afterwards.

He returned to the United States shortly after to help his sick mother. Lynette Hooker has not been found.

It isn’t clear when the Coast Guard took possession of “Soulmate” or if that development is connected to the criminal investigation.