← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
"He Took Something Very Valuable From Me": Lynette’s Mom Reacts to Soulmate Crime Scene
00:51:29
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- [00:00]
A
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B
Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. I have some news to report to you in the Lynette Hooker case, the woman missing in the Bahamas, presumed dead because it has been five and a half weeks since her husband told us all this big long tail that she bounced off the back of the dinghy in rough, rough seas. But ever since then, this podcast has found down so much information that absolutely destroys Brian Hooker's story. Makes him out to be a big fat liar. So if he's lying about this terrible accident and what effectively we saw by video, calm seas, what else is he lying about? Today at the Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Florida, we were able to witness agents, federal agents, agents getting on board Soulmate and spending hours down below. Like more than three hours. Agents were on and off the boat and spend about three hours down below. Our spies were there watching and rolling video and taking pictures from the sky. And they took some important things off that boat. Like they removed a lot of evidence off that boat. We saw a lot of it being bagged up actually into evidence, evidence bags that they'd set up a table, dry dock on the shore so that they could do the processing of all of the forensic material they were taking off what is now officially a crime scene. And we can call it that, officially. Now we can call it a crime scene because there's crime scene tape that surrounds that entire boat. You can see it from the water, you can see it from the air. Soulmate is a crime scene and it is impound dead at the Fort Pierce Coast Guard station. So basically what that means is, Brian, you're not getting your boat back. I don't think forever, personally. Look, there's all sorts of rules about holding evidence. We've got a fourth amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. But the key word there would be unreasonable. And once there is something that has evidentiary value, those warrants extend. You can hold that stuff and I guarantee you that whatever judge or magistrate signed off on the warrant to search and hold that boat, I believe that's going to be held until trial. Yeah, because it's a crime scene. And you may at some point see a jury going on board for a go. See, I don't know that that's going to happen. And I'll tell you this, the big caveat, Brian Hooker hasn't been charged with any crime yet. But things don't look good for Brian Hooker. Not when the feds have your boat interdicted offshore towed in. We have exclusive pictures of the Coast Guard towing that sailing vessel into the Fort Pierce harbor to the Coast Guard station there. Because they basically captured it offshore. Couple of delivery folks, a captain and a first mate who were paid to bring that boat back over to America. Boy, did they get the scare of their lifetime all of a sudden. Woo, woo, woo. It literally looks like you're being pulled over on the road. But it's a boat. And there's the Coast Guard with the cherry and the siren and the big announcement, oh, we're boarding your boat, United States Coast Guard. And that's what happened, right? When you seize a boat, that's what happens. So. So these guys, boy, crappy 24 hours for them. I hope they got paid in advance. But probably even worse for Brian, who was waiting to take possession of his home, the place where he's lived for four years. On board Soulmate with his long suffering wife, Lynette. Meantime, where is she? This is the key question. Where is Lynette Hooker? Because she did not bounce off the back of your fucking dinghy. So where is she? Now? There's a couple people who know. God's one of them. I can tell you what we learned today. We learned obviously that since crime scene tape surrounds that boat, it's officially a crime scene. We saw that with our own eyes. We saw the agents boarding that boat and disembarking and going back and forth and taking stuff off that boat. And we saw them processing it. And today we saw them photographing that crime scene. That crime scene. Now this has been a criminal investigation for five weeks. Brian's story is that something happened with Lynette a thousand yards away on the dinghy and they never made it back to Soulmate. And ah, he floated all the way to Marsh harbor, four miles away. So why do you suppose Soulmate is officially a crime scene with crime scene tape? If. If Brian's story is that they never got even close to Soulmate, I think it's because the feds don't believe his story. I'm pretty sure that it's a crime scene because they believe something happened on board. Soulmate, not on board the dinghy. I think they believe that Brian is a liar. And so I keep saying, tick tock, tick tock, Brian Hooker, tick tock. The feds work in different ways than the state, by the way. You all know this. If you're a true crime fan, you all know this. But I will give some reminders for those who are coming along. When the feds are on a crime and they're investigating, they often get all their ducks in a row before they go in charge, indict jail, and then, you know, the bail issue comes up and all the rest. In a state case, you'll often see like Coburger, Brian Coburger was arrested three months, two, two and a half months or so after the crime. He committed his quadruple murder in the University of Idaho, right? And then they compiled the case for over two and a half years and there was resolution when he finally gave a plea bargain. The feds work differently. They front load the evidence. They don't kind of grab you, stick you away and then research and try to, you know, build the case and go to trial. The feds will often be ready to go to trial when they arrest you like that. They're usually that secure in their, their investigations and their work product. And they're. Listen, when you're facing a federal indictment, make plans, you know, tell your family to make plans without you. Because 95 plus percent of the time they get a conviction. The feds don't around, they just don't. They have their in a row, all the ducks, everything's organized. And so my presumption is that because Soulmate is surrounded in crime scene tape, they believe that is a crime scene. That is where a crime was committed, as opposed to a missing person that's innocent and sad, but not a crime. Soulmate's a crime scene. You can see it from the air, you can see it from the water. You can see it. I think we all knew it, but it's quite something to be able to see it. Couple big things you're gonna see in today's episode. First and foremost, a very poignant interview with Lynette Hooker's mom, Darlene. And Darlene Hamlet has been through absolute hell for the last five plus weeks. First and foremost, she was told her daughter was missing. And then crickets. Nothing. Literally nothing from Brian Hooker, the man who swears some tragedy befell their family, but then had nothing to say to any family members. So how do you think that makes feel? How do you think that makes Lynette's daughter feel Carly Ailsworth has had crickets from Brian Hooker, too. That's awfully strange behavior for someone who swears some terrible accident happened to him in the Bahamas and he lost his wife. You'd think he'd be commiserating with her family and his family. No, not a word. Five weeks. So I'm going to talk to Darlene a little bit about that. Not only that, but there's a lot of stuff that Darlene told me today that I did not know about on the night that Brian Hooker swears all that bullshit happened. Yeah. Pieces of his story I didn't know before, and they are pieces that do not fit. Like what he was wearing on his feet, for starters, because that doesn't compute with what actually happened. And what happened after he washed up on shore, because apparently he didn't go right to the boatyard. There are a few stops in between. So she's going to tell you all of that. And it's fascinating. And also a piece of information I just learned about the flares that he swore he shot off. Yeah, Darlene knows a few things about that, too. So you're going to see that exclusive interview with Darlene in just a moment. And Darlene also shared some incredibly poignant photographs with us from her family, her daughter and her granddaughter. Just really sweet pictures that brings Lynette to life in all of her life, not just in a few of the pictures you've seen in her boating life with Brian. Some of these pictures that Darlene was kind enough to share with us are just so incredibly sweet. And I'm seeing Lynette in a very different light, like when she was a kid with her brother, like growing up like we all did, you know, playing with our family members in the innocent times. There's also a really sweet picture of Lynette with her dad when she was getting married. Now, I don't believe this to be the wedding to Brian Hooker. It could be. I mean, she's been married and with Brian for decades, so it's just sweet to see Lynette in such a happy day with her dad. And then some skiing pictures that are so cute as well. Lynette with her mom on skis, maybe in Michigan, maybe somewhere else, but just really happy, sweet family times. And there's a lot of pictures as well that show Lynette with her daughter Carly. And multi generational family pictures, which I just think are the greatest thing. You know, this is now a grandmother and a granddaughter who are missing the generation in between. And the most important person in Both of their lives. Lynette Hooker. And so obviously it's paramount that Lynette be found. Yes, this crime needs to be solved. And whoever did whatever to Lynette needs to be held accountable. But Lynette needs to be found as well. And by the way, it was just Carly Aylesworth's 29th birthday last week. So you think that a stepfather who was in her life from the time she was three would be a part of that birthday or would reach out and say, I don't know, happy birthday. Crickets. Absolutely nothing. Yeah, that doesn't sound like somebody's story is accurate. Because if his story is accurate, he's a victim who needs the love of his family, not a guy who went underground and basically walled them off never to speak again. That is sketch. So, like I said, I. I had this opportunity to speak with Darlene today. This is just a couple days after Mother's Day, which you probably, if you've seen the past episodes. Darlene was given a Mother's Day present from the United States Coast Guard and that was the search and seizure of Brian and Lynette Hooker's 46 foot sailing sloop. Their sailboat, Soulmate. Yeah. Grabbed off the coast of Florida and towed in to the Coast Guard dock where it remains impounded. Which means the real forensic search begins in the case, potentially against Brian Hooker. So I, I checked in with Darlene just to see A, what that news meant to her, B, how she's doing now, five plus weeks into this horrible ordeal, and see what it means that Brian has basically just gone dark. Quick note from my sponsor. Spring always makes me want my home to feel a little softer, a little calmer. Maybe more like a place I actually want to land at the end of a long day. And for me, bedding really does set the tone. If your sheets are scratchy or too hot or just not comfortable, you feel it immediately. That's why I love Cozy Earth. Their bamboo sheets are made from viscose from bamboo and they are unbelievably soft, breathable and temperature regulating. So you stay cool and comfortable all night long. Plus you get 100 night sleep trial and a 10 year warranty. So yes. P.S. this is cozy Earth. I'm wearing one of their hoodies right now. I absolutely love it. It's like the waffle hoodie, but it's really, really soft and just snuggly. So go to cozyearth.com and for sheets or the hoodie or anything else there, use my code Banfield for up to 20% off. And if you get a post purchase survey, do me a solid. Let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here at Drop Dead Serious. Because home isn't just where you live, it's how you feel. Comfort lives here. Cozy Earth. Darlene, it's been a couple of weeks since we last spoke, and, boy, what a difference a few weeks can make.
- [13:44]
C
Lots of changes. Yes, sir.
- [13:47]
B
So the biggest one is that Lynette's boat and Brian's boat, Soulmate, is now in the custody of the United States Coast Guard. That must have been quite a nice piece of news to receive.
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C
That was my Mother's Day present. Yes. That was good.
- [14:07]
B
So how much are you following along with. With everything that. That's happening to the extent that you can.
- [14:15]
C
As much as I can. So I get most of my information from the podcast, primarily you, so. And the Coast Guard calls me on, you know, and gives me brief updates. So. Yeah, as much as. Yeah, yeah.
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B
I'm always glad to hear when officials actually take into account, you know, families and loved ones who are waiting for information. So I'm glad that the Coast Guard Investigative Service is doing that. What are your thoughts about. Just the idea that so much is coming off of that boat? I mean, they are retrieving a lot of stuff.
- [14:55]
C
Oh, that's. I was wondering how they were doing what they were doing, but it seems that they would almost have to disassemble portions of the boat, I guess. I don't know. I don't know the process for them in that area.
- [15:11]
B
Well, I'll tell you what the nice thing is, when you see these agents getting on board, and we can see them, because we've got people who are helping us get videos from all around that boat. You can see them getting on board and carrying things off lots of things, putting it into evidence bags, which is really key. I mean, when they put things into evidence bags, it means it's important, and they want to protect the chain of custody. So that's got to feel. Feel good that at least, you know, you know, the Americans are getting things that maybe the Bahamians didn't.
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C
Right. I'm hoping for that anyhow. I'm hoping that they. They share still. Even. Even that with the boat being here in the United States, I hope they still share information that they have with the. The Coast Guard.
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B
Yeah, Amen to that. Especially the dinghy, because they're still in possession of the dinghy.
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C
Right. They kept the dinghy, which I. I thought that was unusual. I did. I don't know.
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B
Well, it was what? At one point, it was weird, I'm not gonna lie. When I was in the Bahamas and then I saw your granddaughter Carly and her boyfriend Steve there, the first thing they said to me was that the Bahamian police said, you can take the dinghy, but they didn't have anywhere to take it. They didn't have a vehicle. They didn't have a way to transport it. They didn't know what. What to do. But they. They were given that offer, according to Carly and Steve. And then later, when Carly and Steve did ask about the dinghy, they were told that the Bahamian police had changed their minds and that they weren't going to release it.
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C
I was thinking maybe they were going to allow Carly to take it around and kind of look around some of the land, but not physically take it and take it back to the United States. I didn't think that so.
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B
Well, it was just odd, no matter how it was going to be used, that they had said, go ahead, take it, as if to say, it's just taking up space at our impound. Strange.
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C
It is.
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B
There are a lot of people, and I'm sure you've seen this, locals, folks who are really committed to finding justice and finding Lynette. I wondered how that's landed with you, because many of them ask me to tell you, please give Lynette's family, her mom and her daughter our love. We're thinking of them at all times.
- [17:27]
C
And I gotta say thank you to all of them. I don't think I'd make it through this without all the help of all the people that have been helping everywhere. I've gotten anonymous phone calls, emails from people that I've never met in my life. Don't know them that have been so heartfelt. Friends of my daughters from when she was in school have, you know, high school, have been getting in touch with me. So it's just amazing how many people. How many people this has. I don't want to say inspired. That wouldn't be the right word. How it has affected. Affected so many people. Yeah, yeah.
- [18:10]
B
And they're the folks in the Bahamas. So many of the locals that we talk to on a regular basis, and I dare say, when I mean regular, I mean all day long, every day, we're in contact with people from the Bahamas, people with connections to the Bahamas, captains who are back and forth to the Bahamas, and they all say, tell me what we can do. Let me know. We're gonna get. We're gonna get this solved. We're gonna. We're gonna help this family. I mean, that's gotta be really heartwarming.
- [18:38]
C
It is. I. I can't even express to you how. How good that, you know, the. How that makes me feel, how it helps make me feel. It's been a long time for me now. This is this, what, about six weeks and it's still, like, brand new.
- [18:57]
B
Yeah. You're into the sixth week now. And, you know, for people who are following along, sometimes they kind of lose track of that. But you're in this every day.
- [19:04]
C
Every day.
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B
And I can only imagine just having done the work that I've done for so long and, you know, interviewed people who are in your shoes. It's a very lonely feeling.
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C
The unknown. The unknown is. Yeah, it's lonely. My heart's broke. So. Yeah.
- [19:30]
B
Well, I. I was glad that the gift of soulmate and the interdiction off the coast and the impounding of it at the Coast Guard station came on Mother's Day. I think you deserved one ray of joy, as small as it is, a ray of joy on that day. Speaking of that, you know, I mentioned this on one of my episodes, but I said, if Brian wants us all to believe his story, if Brian wants us to think that what he said is true, then presumably Brian is a victim of a tragedy in which he would want to share this with family members. Have you heard a word from Brian Hooker?
- [20:11]
C
I have not since the 6th. Carly has not. Lynette's father has not. So nobody in the family, my son, none of us have heard from him.
- [20:27]
B
And remind me, Brian was stepdad to Carly since she was, what, about 3ish? Is that about right?
- [20:36]
C
Yep. Yep.
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B
So not just, you know, a tangential or distant relationship. This was like a father to her. I mean, he was like a father figure.
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C
Right, Right. Yep.
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B
And he's had no. No communication with her since the day that he said your mom, you know, your mom bounced off. And very matter of fact, if she
- [20:57]
C
described it, remember, she heard that on a voicemail. Not from him, but on a voicemail.
- [21:04]
B
Right. Did she ever get an actual phone call time with him on the phone?
- [21:08]
C
I do think they did talk briefly, but only once that I know of. So. Yeah.
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B
And he never made another effort to communicate with anybody.
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C
I figured maybe his attorney is suggesting that he not do that. But, you know, like I've said before, if he's. If he's innocent, why wouldn't he be talking to us?
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B
I mean, this would be a family tragedy. If he's innocent. If. If what he says is true, then he's a victim too. And you would think that you would want to with family commiserating or maybe making plans, a memorial of some kind or maybe even a funeral. But nothing.
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C
Nothing.
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B
You know, in my line of work and in jurisprudence, that's often described as consciousness of guilt.
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C
Okay, I bet I don't, I bet
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B
I don't have to explain that to you, right?
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C
No, no, no.
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B
I'm sure you, you could probably feel it.
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C
Yeah.
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B
So what do you make of Brian's actions ever since? How he's like virtually gone underground?
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C
Well, I, I really have no idea where he's at now. I would have thought, seeing as he had brought his. Was bringing his boat back over to Florida area, that maybe he's in Florida. But I don't know if he's in California, if he's in Michigan or if he's in Florida. I've kind of heard all three, so I don't know why he is being so secretive. So if he's innocent, I would think that he would come forward and work on this together. I don't know.
- [23:00]
B
Instead of basically hiding. I mean, some people said they saw him in Michigan briefly.
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C
Yep.
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B
And then he hired that lawyer in Michigan.
- [23:09]
C
In Michigan, yeah. Yeah.
- [23:11]
B
And then he told, I don't know anybody who would listen, that he was going to see his sick mom in Sacramento, where his sister is as well. The same sister who was very quick to fly over to the Bahamas and sit with him on the porch of the conch innocent for two days after Lynette disappeared. And neither one of them was out searching for Lynette.
- [23:38]
C
And then in the text that I did get from him on the 6th, he said he was getting the dinghy back. And then the next day his sister and brother in law were coming in. And after that he was going to give the Coast Guard a couple of days to find Lynette. And then he was going to go out and look. And I'm thinking, why are you giving the Coast Guard two days? Why isn't your sister helping? Look, why haven't you called anybody to rent a boat? And then he was arrested. So then he couldn't do anything, of course. But then again, once he got out of jail, he left right away, even after saying he was going to stay. So it just. None of it makes much sense to me.
- [24:28]
B
Yeah, his first action upon getting out of jail at 8 o' clock at night the next morning was getting an emergency passport out of there. At the same time he's interviewing with three major Networks. Major, major networks. So a strategic set of interviews to try to get his message out as far and wide as possible, saying that he'd never leave the Bahamas, he wouldn't leave without her. It would take a higher authority. I don't know what kind of higher authority, you know, to get him to leave Lynet, all the while behind the scenes.
- [24:58]
C
He had a ticket.
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B
He's got a ticket and he's. Well, I don't know. I don't know when he bought the ticket, but he's getting his emergency passport. To be like bouncing out of there not even 24 hours after those interviews. Doesn't sound like somebody who was so committed. The other thing, Darlene, was that he said to one of the fire and rescue representatives who worked so hard trying to find Lynette with false information, you know, he'd said to. He'd said to the fire and rescue searchers that she was only wearing. Lynette was only wearing a two piece black bathing suit. Never mentioned the royal blue conc Republic headscarf or the aquamarine bathing suit cover up. Never mentioned that.
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C
Right.
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B
Didn't mention the color of her dry bag or that she might have been wearing a black fanny pack. Nope, nothing like that. So he sent them all off on a wild goose chase without appropriate information, and for that they are none too happy. But, you know, he said to him, where can I find a boat to rent so I can come out and help? And so the fire and rescue representative gave him the information of who to call to rent a boat to go out and search and help. And wouldn't you know it, when the fire and rescue personnel checked in with that representative, they said, we never heard from him.
- [26:10]
C
That's what I've heard. Yeah. I'm just hoping they find some of the clothing articles on. On the boat, if they made it back to the boat. So that would be pretty obvious that something else went on other than what he said. Or finding Lynette and finding her on shore somewhere would also kind of wrap up the story in a different way.
- [26:38]
B
So do you have a. A working theory yourself of what might have happened at. What might really have happened?
- [26:47]
C
When he talked to me, he said that they had been drinking all day. And then when she went off the boat, he told me she was swimming toward shore. We've heard the boat and everything else, but mine was the shore. And that he had thrown the thing to her, the floaty thing. Didn't know if she got it or not. And that he'd lost sight of her
- [27:12]
B
did he say if he called out to her and she responded?
- [27:15]
C
No, he didn't say that. And there was no talk about the anchor or the rope that was in the boat. But the one thing he did tell me was that he shot off two flares from the dinghy and that's all he had. So that's all he could shoot. And then later on I found out there was only. There were two flares, but only one was fired. So that was a thing that didn't match to me. So.
- [27:43]
B
Interesting. So let me. Let me just. I don't think I learned that before. He said to you that he shot off two flares, but you came to learn that only one was fired.
- [27:52]
C
Right.
- [27:53]
B
There was still one in the chamber. Like there was still one in that flare gun.
- [27:56]
C
I'm not familiar with a flare gun. So how they work. But he said he shot it off twice. He said there were boats that went by and he yelled at the boats and neither boat stopped
- [28:10]
B
in the darkness. Like boats that went by in the darkness.
- [28:12]
C
He said, yeah, yep. And then he said that there was no lights, there were no boats because it was the holiday weekend, it was Easter weekend, and so there were no boaters and so he couldn't get any help. He said when he went on shore, he went to two houses and he pounded on the doors at two houses and nobody came. And so that was the story that I heard. I heard that he stopped a car in the street, told the guy that he needed help, his wife was gone. He said the guy just closed the door and took off. And then that's when he ended up at the marina. So the story that he told me has a lot of different little legs to it than he told other people.
- [29:01]
B
So he told you that he pounded on other people's doors on Lubbers quarters and that nobody was there?
- [29:09]
C
Well, I don't know if it was a lubber. No, this was once he.
- [29:11]
B
This is Marsh Harbor. This is Marsh Harbor.
- [29:13]
C
Yeah.
- [29:14]
B
He told you that he pounded on the doors of houses on Marsh harbor and nobody responded.
- [29:20]
C
Nobody responded.
- [29:22]
B
And he told you that he stopped a vehicle where someone was actually behind the wheel and he told them, my wife is missing. And the person drove, just kept going.
- [29:32]
C
Yeah. And then he ended up at the marina and the guard at the marina got it, got the thing rolling. But yeah, that's what he said because he told.
- [29:45]
B
I think Blaine and his wife on that long recorded, I mean, hour long, I think just verbal logaria that they just decided to record because there was so much Information coming. They didn't feel like they could write it down fast enough, but suddenly they started to realize how sketchy it sounded. He told them that he bushwhacked his way through all the rough to get to the marina.
- [30:10]
C
Well, he told me he had to go on the hard ground of the shore, that the shore was really sharp on his feet, and that he went through the bushes and that he knocked at two doors. But because he emphasized, again, because it was the Easter weekend, there was nobody
- [30:25]
B
around, he said the ground was sharp on his feet.
- [30:29]
C
Yeah.
- [30:29]
B
Was he barefoot, did he say?
- [30:31]
C
He did not say, but he said
- [30:32]
B
he just said the ground was sharp on his feet.
- [30:34]
C
Yep.
- [30:34]
B
Because when the rescuers came to get him that morning, they said he was wearing blue slides.
- [30:44]
C
I don't know.
- [30:46]
B
Couldn't have been too sharp. If he had blue slides on, you would think not.
- [30:52]
C
Wow. So, yeah, I've heard bits and pieces of stories, and they're all a little bit different than what I had heard.
- [31:00]
B
So I. I'm going back over this again. He says he was out on a road where there was a vehicle, and the vehicle said, stopped, listened to him, and drove away.
- [31:08]
C
Drove off, drove off.
- [31:09]
B
And there's a man who's supposed to be soaking wet, having just come in from being marooned in a tiny little dinghy in big waves. And the man didn't give it, didn't care, just didn't. Just drove off, drove off and. And then he goes off the road through the bushes to get to the marina.
- [31:28]
C
The power, you know, he just told me that he had to go through all the brush to get to the marina, but. But that he had gone up to two houses and knocked on the doors, and knocked on the doors and no. Answered and stopped a car and told them that his wife was lost and the guy drove off.
- [31:45]
B
I still don't understand going through the bushes. If he's already on a road, if he's on a road that takes him to houses and cars are driving, why suddenly would he leave a road and go through this rough brush that he mentioned he had to bushwhack through?
- [31:59]
C
Well, as the story went, that he told me he was at the road by the marina, and that's when he stopped the car and then his next stop was the marina. So. And I would assume that the marina was going to be on a road, too. But.
- [32:14]
B
Yeah, So I guess what he's now trying to say is that he bushwhacked through all the brush and the sharpness on his feet, whatever that is, and Ended up on the road that eventually got him to the marina.
- [32:25]
C
Yep, yep, absolutely. Yeah.
- [32:28]
B
Well, that. That makes a little bit more sense because I'm thinking if he's already been on a road and he's already seen a car and houses, what on earth would he be doing bushwhacking after that? But this one, the sharpness on his feet, I'm not sure I can buy that. If the. If the rocks are very pointed, then maybe you can't be in your slides, but I think that would be a little safer than having sharp rocks on your feet. But that's an interesting little piece of information that I'm sure if there's an indictment and a trial, let's say that will come up. That whole system of travel that he outlined for you will come up.
- [33:01]
C
Well, just like I couldn't argue with him because I don't know. I don't know anything about the location. So where these houses were, I don't know in relationship to the marina or anything. But he said he went up to two houses, knocked on the doors, and
- [33:17]
B
when the police asked him all these questions, he only answered four out of something like 94.
- [33:25]
C
Well, I think it's odd because, I mean, I live on a lake in the summertime, and if you're in trouble out on the lake, night or day, and you raise your arm and ask for help, somebody comes over and helps you. That's just the rule of thumb. That's what you always do. I mean, ever since I've been out here 40, 50 years. So when he said two boats went by and they didn't stop, I thought it was unusual. So, yeah, you asked me what I think happened. I hope this didn't happen, But I believe that they made it back to the boat and they continued on with their evening, and they may have even had a few more beverages. I think they probably got in an argument. And from there his choice is to choke, which wouldn't leave any evidence unless she fell down and cracked her head open or something like that. But. And then he had all that time to do what he thought was best with my. My daughter's body. It's. That's why it's so important me to find her.
- [34:37]
B
Yeah, we're going to find her. I. I feel it. I'm not kidding. The amount of work that Lindsay and I have done on this case, the amount of research, the amount of detail that we have ferreted out, I. I think we're going to find her. I do. And I think he's going to be indicted. And I think your theory isn't wrong. I will say this caveat. He's not been charged, right? Not been arrested in the U.S. he's a free, innocent man until proven guilty. He is not charged in this case. I truly believe he's a liar. I think he's a filthy, stinking liar. The things that he's told. The hell that he's wrought upon you and Carly and everybody who loves Lynette. And there are so many who do. And even the people who don't know Lynette. The. The hell that he has brought upon everybody who has tried to find her and those who have done what they can just to solve this crime. And I'll call it a crime. He's just one of the most shameful people to walk the earth.
- [35:39]
C
I'm very disappointed in him. We told him that his job was to take care of her, and he surely didn't do it.
- [35:48]
B
Boy, did he ever not do that. Listen, there's so much, though, that. To look ahead to in that I don't think he's as smart as he thinks he is. He may be able to mask his work van until he got caught and fired because of that at AT&T. He may think that he networked out his boat and tricked it all out and knows how to mask his location. And you might be able to mask things going forward. You could take action to mask what you do going forward, but you can't mask what you did going back.
- [36:24]
C
Right.
- [36:24]
B
A lot of that stuff's in the cloud, and you don't have access to it anymore. So I really do believe that Brian thinks he's smart and he's playing tiddlywinks when the feds are playing master chess.
- [36:40]
C
I hope you're right, because I do want to know what happened. I do want to know what happened
- [36:46]
B
based off what we're seeing come off that boat. Yeah. I think that he's a complete moron and didn't realize just how much of a digital trail he would have left in his actions, whatever those actions were. Again, caveat. He has not been charged. I have to say this. Legally, he's not been charged with any crime yet. But I always follow that up with TikTok. Brian Hooker.
- [37:10]
C
I know you do. TikTok. Yep.
- [37:13]
B
TikTok. I'm telling you, it's going to happen. In the interim, what are you and your husband doing? I mean, when I talked to you last, you were in Florida, and you've even changed location now.
- [37:25]
C
Well, yeah, we're here in Michigan, so pretty much just trying to make it each day. I don't sleep well. Just. It just seems like I wake up in the middle of the night and just lay there and think and think and think. So just need some closure. I just need closure. I've decided we've been going for counseling because I just don't understand. Somebody can do this and. Excuse me. I only have one working phone right now, and it brings my alarms up, so.
- [38:12]
B
That's okay. That's okay. You know, it's a great idea that you're getting counseling. This is the kind of club that nobody wants to join, and very, very few people are in it.
- [38:28]
C
And it was today, so today's an emotional day. I just got back from there, so I can hear it in my voice.
- [38:37]
B
Well, give yourself a lot of grace, for starters. And just know that while you can't see all these people, there are just hundreds of people who have you in their thoughts and prayers. I get messages every day. Please send our thoughts and our feelings and our prayers and let Lynette's mom and her daughter know that we want to do anything we can. So they are out there. They really. They're watching this right now.
- [39:01]
C
Well, my granddaughter has been very brave. I'm not as brave as her. These are difficult. So I don't. I don't go on the podcast that often because it is difficult, but I'm glad that Carly has because it's kept things stirred up and things going on and people looking at it and any. Any help that anybody has, any. If they think they saw Brian or Lynette get in touch with the Coast Guard or you, Ashley. It's helped. The Coast Guard told me they've gotten some good tips and they're using those tips and they're processing the boat right now. So I'm hoping for more information from all of this, so.
- [39:49]
B
Well, I'm glad our viewers have been amazing. Drop dead serious info gmail.com drop dead serious info gmail.com and if you don't want to share with us, I completely understand. You can go and download the app. Cgis Tips. CGIS Tips. It's anonymous. And they. They've been thankful as well. They've been getting good tips as well. Like you mentioned from. I mean, it's great that we can. Can get this out there because there are, you know, over 150,000 people usually watching these episodes, and that's a lot of crowdsourcing and crime solving that, you know, a lot of people can. Can help with. In the interim, how's. How is Carly doing? Because, I mean, as she's still young, I mean, she's in her 20s. She's. I can see her, a kid.
- [40:32]
C
She's been off work. She has to go back work on Friday. She's hoping that goes okay. But she's. She. We have good times and bad. I mean, good moments. You know, she. We cry together and. And then we remember things together. So. Yeah.
- [40:51]
B
You've been able to spend some time together since you came up to Michigan?
- [40:54]
C
Yes, her birthday. We went and had dinner with her for her birthday and I talk to her almost every day and we text. So. Yeah, it's important. She needs the support. She's an only child, so she doesn't have anybody else that she can get close to. So. Yeah, she was talking, I guess, to one of Brian's daughters, Rosie, but for some reason that contact isn't going right now. So. Yeah, she's got Steve and me and she's got her grandmother and her father too, that she talks with. So.
- [41:29]
B
And Brian and his family are absolutely walled off at this point.
- [41:34]
C
They're just gone. They're just, you know, his mother's a lovely woman. I know she's been sick, but I haven't heard from her. I've met her. I never met his sister. I've met. Yeah, I've met his one brother and a nephew, but they're out in California, so we're a long way from Michigan or Florida. So I've only met a few sisters
- [41:55]
B
taking an intriguing role in all of this. Possibly even having arranged the attorney for Brian in Nassau, in the Bahamas. I'm not sure of that. There are some who have said that she might have been instrumental in securing that attorney for. For Brian. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing illegal about it. But some of the. Some of the actions would have required a lot of help, like leaving the Bahamas and getting that paperwork all filed when you're in a jail cell. That would be. That would have likely come from a family member. Do I know it's her? I do not.
- [42:31]
C
No.
- [42:32]
B
She was there. I think that is a key question. And honest to God, I think the Apple watch that we spotted on Lynette's wrist at the Abaco Inn when she was taking pictures by the pool, I think that is a massive piece of evidence because Lynette, you know, had a habit of taking that watch off in the middle of the evening because it was a low battery watch. It just wasn't. It didn't have a strong battery.
- [42:59]
C
Right.
- [42:59]
B
And so, you know, Carly told us that Lynette would take the watch off sometime around dinner and put it on the charger.
- [43:05]
C
Right.
- [43:05]
B
And so if your theory, and trust me, it's my theory too, is that Brian may have done something to her on board soulmate, it is quite possible he didn't realize she'd already taken that apple watch off. And it was sitting on board, nicely connected, having traveled to and from the Abaco Inn, which could be. I mean, that could be a big nail in his coffin.
- [43:26]
C
Or the L necklace, because Lynette. That was about the only piece of jewelry Lynette ever wore other than her wedding ring. It was the El necklace that Carly now has that was back on the boat. So if we ever do see that video from Abaco Inn, we might be able to tell those two things in particular.
- [43:48]
B
So, yeah, let's hope. I mean, some of that. Some of that surveillance video is from quite a ways away. Like the. I've seen the cameras that are trained on the dock where the dinghy would have been parked, and I don't think you'd have been able to see a necklace on someone from how far away. It's across the street and up the hill a little bit on a house.
- [44:04]
C
Okay.
- [44:05]
B
But the bar, it had surveillance cameras, and the pool had surveillance cameras. I think. Think based on the distance, I can't be sure, but I think that the surveillance cameras at the pool might have been a bit of a ways away. Maybe not super easy to see a necklace, but I think the bar, if she was sitting at the bar, as one of our witnesses said at one point, our witness said that she and Brian were sitting up on the north end of the bar. And that was something even the bartender didn't remember. He just remembered Brian coming up when they first got there and getting two Cuba Libras and taking them to the pool and then coming back without a shirt and taking them to the pool. But he didn't ever mention them sitting at the end of the bar. That was another witness who saw them and said she was shown video from the Royal Bahamian Police inside the bar of these two people. And she said, yes, that was them. And he was wearing a tan or gray sort of fisherman or sailing fabric shirt.
- [45:10]
C
So I'm wondering, though, if that was a different day, because the one that he was wearing as he was crossing the street didn't look like that kind of material. It's. It's all. You can't tell, really.
- [45:21]
B
This is. This is the mystery. So the bartender swears he Saw him in a blue and white shirt. And the witness who took that last photo of him walking across the street said she saw him and Lynette sitting at this end of the bar. She was shown video from the fourth, the surveillance video that they got, and said, yep, that's him in the tan and tan or gray, no pattern shirt. So listen, it's not unusual for somebody to throw an extra shirt in a dry bag when you're around on your dinghy all day and get splashed and, you know, you might take a dry shirt in your dry bag, so that's not so unusual. He did take his shirt off at one point, so maybe he might have put another one on. A dry one or one that hadn't been worn all day. Smelly and all the rest, it's. It's. It's just a bit of a mystery. But I think at some point, once the Abaco in video is released, that, that, that might be solved, that part of the mystery.
- [46:17]
C
So we don't know. We're still investigating everything. So.
- [46:21]
B
Yeah. Darlene, what are you hoping for in the coming weeks?
- [46:29]
C
The most important thing to me is to find Lynette first and foremost. And then the evidence, in my opinion, should take care of the rest.
- [46:40]
B
So is there anything you would say to Brian if he's watching?
- [46:47]
C
I give the same answer every time I'm asked that. And I can't think of a single thing that I have that I want to say to Brian. All I can say is I'm disappointed. And that's it. Other than he took something very valuable to me and didn't treat it with much respect. And so, no, I don't. I really. I'm not up to talking to him at all. And I think everything that Carly and I have said so far is enough. He knows how we feel.
- [47:27]
B
Understand? Darlene, it's good to talk to you. I mean, my heart goes out to you every time I send you a text. I'm hoping that it's at least some piece of resolution that can give you a little bit of relief. But I understand there's very little relief that comes in these days.
- [47:43]
C
No, there's no relief. Even I think it's even going to be worse once we do actually find her reality right now, the unknown. And so, yeah.
- [47:59]
B
Do you have any plans at this point for a memorial or a funeral?
- [48:04]
C
I've just started thinking about it. Yeah. So it has to happen. I know that. I've been thinking about where I want to do it at where Carly and I and other People that cared for her want to do it. She had a big footprint in Grand Rapids, but she also had one here in the Irish Hills in Onsted. So it's kind of hard to determine where to do this.
- [48:35]
B
Hard decision and hard to plan, especially when you're in the unknown.
- [48:40]
C
Right.
- [48:41]
B
Darlene, thank you so much for spending some time and talking with me. You know, we're sending all our love your way and we're here for you.
- [48:50]
C
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Everybody, everybody, everybody. I can't even think of all the people to say thank you to.
- [48:58]
B
Oh, they're hearing you now.
- [48:59]
C
I need more.
- [49:01]
B
My great thanks to Darlene Hamlet for speaking with me. And I just want to say, if you're in the Bahamas, particularly in the Abacos Marsh harbor, and you encountered a man on the road around 4 o' clock in the morning who said, my wife is missing, help me. Please come forward. Please help us. I don't think you exist. I think that story is a lie. But if you do, I would really like to talk to you. I'd like to know what he was wearing, what he was carrying, what color shirt was he wearing, what color dry bag did he have? What did he actually say to you? Again, if you know anybody who said they had a weird encounter with a guy on the road in Marsh harbor In the Bahamas, 4 o' clock in the morning on Sunday, April 5th, that's Easter morning. All this crap that he said happened happened the night before, starting around 7:45 a night. And he drifted all night long till 4 in the morning to Marsh harbor again. He says he washed up on the eastern shore of Marsh harbor and then scrambled along through all the briar patches and even roadways. Now we're learning. Knocked on doors, flagged down a driver, who then just left him in the middle of the road. And by the way, people in Bahamas are pretty darn nice. Every single step of the way somebody was willing to help us. And if you're in distress, I don't think someone would have driven off on you, but I'd like to know who you are or anybody. If you've heard of a guy that told a story of Easter morning 4:00am he's out driving on the roads on the eastern shores of Marsh Harbor. I want to know who you are. Drop dead serious infomail.com Again, drop dead serious infomail.com and by the way, if you don't want to tell me because I'm just a podcaster, I get it. If you want to tell the authorities and you want to be anonymous, you can do that too. Just download the app CGIS tips. Because you can anonymously tell them if you really exist. But here's what I'm gonna say. I don't think the guy exists. I'm not staying up late to check my email on this one. I don't believe any of Brian's story and I don't think the United States Coast Guard investigators do either. Because that's why Soulmate's a crime scene. Thank you so much everyone for listening and watching. Don't forget to subscribe if you're on audio, if you're on video. Doink doink. Please hit the subscribe button. Really helps. We're an independent podcast organization here folks and so everything you do to like our videos or subscribe really, really helps. And also join our membership. It would be great to have you. We actually really have a very cool little group. Thank you again, so appreciate it. Remember, truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.
- [51:52]
C
Sam.