Lynette Hooker Bombshell Evidence: “She Made It Back to Soulmate” | Brian Hooker

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Episode: Lynette Hooker Bombshell Evidence: “She Made It Back to Soulmate” | Brian Hooker
Date: July 8, 2026
Host: Ashleigh Banfield
Guest: Jim Todd, Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue

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Overview:

This explosive episode centers on a turning point in the Lynette Hooker investigation, revealing newly-surfaced evidence that dramatically alters the case’s direction. Ashleigh Banfield, drawing on her decades-long crime reporting experience, walks listeners through the debunking of Brian Hooker's narrative, highlights new forensic insights, and discusses the impact of these revelations with Jim Todd—a key member of the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue who was heavily involved in the initial search for Lynette.

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Main Theme

The Core Revelation:
Contrary to Brian Hooker's long-maintained story, Lynette Hooker did not fall from a dinghy and vanish at sea. Instead, Banfield’s sources and ongoing investigations show she made it back to their boat, Soulmate, where there is now evidence of a fight, foul play, and her likely death. The episode delves into how this new evidence undermines Brian’s narrative and portends an imminent indictment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Fallacy in Brian Hooker's Story

• Brian’s Claim: Lynette fell from the dinghy and was lost at sea during rough weather, leading Brian to be marooned and rescued days later.
• Ashleigh’s Investigation:
  • Evidence now shows calm weather (contradicting the claimed 2–4 foot seas).
  • Video and marine charts prove the conditions didn’t match Brian’s story.
  • Both Lynette and Brian made it back to their boat, Soulmate ([02:12 – 04:38])
  • There was never a floating accident, as claimed by Brian.
  • Authorities now know the truth: this was never an accident, but a fabricated story to cover something darker.

Notable Quote:

“That story did not happen... Instead, when Lynette and Brian Hooker left the Abaco Inn somewhere between 7 and 7:30, they made it to Soulmate. And the evidence shows that Lynette was on board Soulmate. The evidence also shows... there was a fight and evidence of foul play on board Soulmate.”
— Ashleigh Banfield ([03:30])

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2. Community Outrage and Resource Theft

• Impact on Volunteer Rescuers:
  • Jim Todd and the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue were misled, spending countless hours, resources, and personal energy searching for Lynette under false pretenses.
  • Brian’s text messages repeatedly manipulated and misinformed searchers, leading them on wild goose chases.
  • The community, motivated by compassion, donated time and money, now feeling exploited.

Notable Quote:

“He stole from a volunteer organization that helps to save people. So extra layer of douchebaggery.”
— Ashleigh Banfield ([11:47])

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3. Jim Todd’s Perspective: Calm, Duty, and Disbelief

• Emotional Reaction:
  • Jim Todd describes a mix of relief and calm at finally learning the truth, despite having suspicions all along.
  • Emphasizes the professionalism and resilience of the Hopetown crew—they answered the call for help regardless of the circumstances ([16:39 – 18:00]).
  • Despite being deceived, Todd and his team hold no bitterness; their integrity remains intact.

Notable Quotes:

“When you get a call to do something... people just go to work. We just did our job the best that we knew how to do.”
— Jim Todd ([16:39])

“The way this has turned out won’t have any effect on that team’s willingness and speed to get to the job. So they’ve held onto that and the other cost—it’s just money. They have their integrity.”
— Jim Todd ([44:51])

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4. Dismantling the Lies—Text Message Evidence

• Revealing Manipulation:
  • Banfield reads and scrutinizes Brian’s text messages to Jim Todd. The texts depict Brian feigning concern, organizing search efforts, and giving elaborate explanations for actions he never took.
  • Confirmed by Todd: Brian never actually engaged with any of the leads or captains he claimed he’d contact ([34:09]).

Notable Moment:

“He just sat on the dock all afternoon every day drinking coffee… I don’t think Brian Hooker searched one hour. And that contrast is stark.”
— Jim Todd ([34:09 – 35:01])

• Manipulative Language:
  • Brian often refers to Jim as “Captain Jim,” overemphasizes gratitude, and constantly requests updates—not out of real concern for Lynette, but seemingly to monitor what rescuers know ([29:05], [31:08]).
  • Banfield is disgusted by how Brian poured on emotion for media appearances, despite being an atheist and knowing his own story was fiction ([43:44]).

Notable Quote:

“He’s not asking, have you found Lynette? He’s asking, what do you know?”
— Ashleigh Banfield ([31:08])

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5. Community Response — The Larger Human Impact

• Massive Search Efforts:
  • Hundreds to thousands of hours were expended by volunteers and community members in the exhaustive search for Lynette.
  • Banfield issues a recurring appeal for donations to Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue, calling out the damage done by Brian’s deceit on already limited resources ([22:38], [44:51]).
  • Jim Todd stresses that, despite being misled, the spirit of service and community will persist.

“All the rest of us, my colleagues on fire and rescue, other people in the Bahamas... all of them have poured their heart and soul into trying to get to the reality of what happened. ...Just a stark juxtaposition of the mindset of Brian Hooker versus the mindset of the rest of humanity.”
— Jim Todd ([23:34])

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6. Forensic Quality of the Investigation

• Admiration for Law Enforcement:
  • Todd and Banfield both express appreciation for the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and Bahamian police, noting their intelligence, professionalism, and forensic sophistication ([25:12], [26:35]).

“When they came back the end of May, I had an opportunity to spend some time with them. And I was really impressed with how smart and top of the game they were... Those were sharp. These were the heavy ones.”
— Jim Todd ([25:12]–[26:35])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments With Timestamps

• “[Lynette] made it back to Soulmate... there was evidence of foul play on board your yacht. Evidence of a fight. And there was evidence that Lynette was dead on board Soulmate.”
  — Ashleigh Banfield ([03:34])

• “I think an indictment is imminent because this evidence [is] game changing. My guess is they're crossing the T's and dotting the I's and your days are numbered.”
  — Ashleigh Banfield ([05:32])

• “You know, I don’t have any control over what Brian Hooker did. And any way that we were misunderstood was the action of him. We just did our job the best that we knew how to do.”
  — Jim Todd ([18:02])

• “I don't think Brian Hooker searched one hour. And that contrast is stark. But even having said that, I'm not bitter... All the rest of us... have poured their heart and soul into trying to get to the reality.”
  — Jim Todd ([23:34])

• “You know what it is, Jim? This is what criminals do that I have experienced in the past. They hammer home details with people. They want to be witnesses to disprove what could be their undoing.”
  — Ashleigh Banfield ([42:24])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Bombshell revelation: Lynette made it back to Soulmate; foul play evidence ([02:12 – 05:45])
• Reflection on the community’s effort and resources: ([11:35 – 13:36], [22:38 – 24:54])
• Jim Todd’s viewpoint on being misled: ([16:39 – 18:02], [43:44 – 44:51])
• Text message analysis and what they reveal about Brian Hooker’s manipulations: ([29:05 – 37:14])
• Forensic and law enforcement praise: ([25:12 – 26:35])

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Conclusion & Next Episode Preview

Banfield closes the episode reflecting on the contrast between the selflessness of volunteers and the manipulations of Brian Hooker, expressing hope for justice and the good within the community:

“Of all the people I have to cover in my career, like Brian Hooker, the worst of the worst… and the best of the best, Jim Todd. And it keeps me balanced. It gives me hope that there is so much good out there in humanity.”
— Ashleigh Banfield ([46:29])

Next Episode Teaser:
Banfield will share damning Facebook messages between Brian and Lynette’s friend, featuring yet more lies—deep dives into new texts and conversations with friend Blaine Stevenson.

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For those wanting to support Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Banfield urges listeners to Google them and contribute, given the exploitation and theft of resources the community suffered during the investigation.

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Transcript

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[Jim Todd]

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[Ashley Banfield]

Foreign. Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. And I have really significant news in the Lynette Hooker investigation. This is, I think, a game changer, and I honestly believe that this is going to lead to an indictment. My sources have told me that Lynette Hooker never went off the back of the dinghy. Lynette Hooker made it back to Soulmate. And when I say my sources, I've spoken to her family, and her family is obviously apprised of as much of the investigation as they can be without compromising the case. Because the Coast Guard Investigative Service is they're good at what they do. They're very good at what they do, and they want to keep the family involved, but at the same time, they protect certain information to make sure that if and when there is a trial and a prosecution, let's say, of Brian Hooker, that's the stuff that only gets shared with the defense through discovery. And there is a process for that. And so they have been so good at keeping the integrity of this investigation while at the same time enveloping the family members of Lynette Hooker who are still missing her. We don't have Lynette's body and we don't have the truth yet, but one thing we do have is the lie. And it is a walloping lie. It is a humdinger, shall we say. So not only have I discovered that Lynette made it back to Soulmate, that there was no such thing as an accident on the dinghy, and this whole yarn that Brian Hooker spun and had us all believing she bounced off the dinghy I threw her a green floaty. I called out to her. The waves were so big, two to four foot seas. They weren't. We've actually seen the video and checked the marine charts. They weren't. It was actually pretty calm that night. And I just began to float away with the current and the waves and the wind. And I got separated from her. And there she went. And I never saw her again. And I floated all the way to Marsh Harbor. Four miles. All of it is a lie. That didn't happen. That story did not happen. No, instead, when Lynette and Brian Hooker left the Abaco inn somewhere between 7 and 7:30, they made it to Soulmate. And the evidence shows that Lynette was on board Soulmate. The evidence also shows something very significant, and that is that there was a fight and evidence of foul play on bored Soulmate. Not the dinghy. Soulmate, the boat that they'd been on together as a married couple for the last four years. I can't get past the idea that it's called Soulmate. Right. Because if Lynette was really Brian's soulmate, then why the massive lie that was told to all of us? Everybody, starting with the Hopetown Fire and Rescue, the Volunteer Brigade, Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue were the first people to hold his hand and bring him on board the rescue boat after he'd been marooned at Marsh harbor overnight. Bullshit. It was all a lie. It was all a lie. He wasn't marooned and floating over to Marsh Harbor. Not the way he said it. He made it. They made it just fine after the Abaco in all the way back in the dinghy, made it to Soulmate. So this whole floating story, he fabricated the whole thing. He fabricated the float. He went and put himself in that position and floated himself. It's a good cover. But for what, Brian? What are you covering for? Why did you do the float? Why did you float to Marsh Harbor? Because you didn't float due to a lack of propulsion. And Lynette went overboard with the keys to my dinghy. I had no engine. I lost an oar. I was helpless. None of that happened. So why'd you fabricate a float, Brian? Why'd you fabricate that whole story? That big, fat, ugly lie? Because there are a lot of people you affected, right? Everybody who was truly trying to find Lynette. But there was evidence of foul play on board your yacht. Evidence of a fight. And there was evidence that Lynette was dead on board. Soulmate. So let's start from there, shall We. Because you got some splaining to do. And my guess, as a reporter who has covered the crime beat for decades and more trials than I can count, murder trials, My guess is that an indictment is imminent because this evidence game changing. My guess is that they're crossing the T's and dotting the I's and your days are numbered. I hope you enjoyed last autumn because I don't think you're going to see this autumn. Here's my other guess, is that this is just the tip of the iceberg on the evidence that they have. Because this evidence to me is big enough. Throws everything into question, all of the lies. But what about those people who were lied to first? Right? The Hopetown volunteer Fire and rescue people. Jim Todd, who welcomed Brian on board, helped him on board, rescuing him from his horrible night adrift and going to help find his wife. That was just the beginning of the commitment that was made to helping this liar. The resources, the personnel, the expertise, the time, the heart, the commitment, the love, the energy, the community, all of it showing up to help find his wife. Poor Brian. They thought, we got to help this guy. We got to find this woman. And they searched and they searched and they searched and he went out and helped them point out the place where he said it happened. And it didn't. It didn't happen. This isn't just a guess, folks. This is real. This is what Lynette's mom has been told by the authorities, by the people who know, by the people who have now been investigating this murder that they suspect. Right. We brought you that a couple of weeks ago that it is officially a murder investigation. Yeah. Those folks have been at it for 94 days. I'm recording this on July 7th. 94 days. That's 13 weeks. That's over three months. There's so much more they have. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Right? Because once you know this, you can then go and refute everything else that Brian Hooker did and didn't do. Like searching for his wife. He didn't do that. He sure texted everybody that he did. Told everybody, including Jim Todd, can you help me find a boat and a captain to hire so I can go out and search for my wife? Do you think he called the numbers Jim Todd gave him? You're about to hear from Jim Todd. He's going to tell you now how this affects him and the volunteer brigade that spent timeless energy, days, nights, commitment, all of that to helping him find a wife that he may have murdered. Now, he's not Charged with that yet? He's not charged with anything yet. But this reporter has seen a few things. And here's my honest to God guess. Right? I think the ink is probably just drying on the indictment for this guy. I think he's got weeks left. I'm glad he got himself a new lawyer, one who has federal experience, because he gonna need it with this stuff. He's gonna need it and he's lucky he has a Fifth Amendment right to stay silent and not incriminate himself. Because now how are you going to explain that whole bullshit float? How are you gonna explain that? Because you did not float because Lynette fell out and you lost propulsion and keys and passports and everything in the dry bag. What was that about?

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[Ashley Banfield]

What was that about? You didn't float because you had to. You float because you need to. Yeah. Not because you have to. If it makes me this mad, and I know it makes you probably pretty angry, I wondered how it makes Jim Todd feel. And the crew that he works with, with the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. I keep saying the name over and over because they're volunteers and it's all through donation that they help save people, rescue them and fight fires. Right? And there's limited resources when you're a volunteer organization. And they are precious resources. And that guy stole them. He lied to them and he stole their resources. He stole from a volunteer organization that helps to save people. So extra layer of douchebaggery. And also, please give generously. Just go Google Hopetown Fire and Rescue. Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. And give generously. They need our help. I called Jim Todd. I've talked to him multiple times during this whole investigation about the stories that just didn't add up and the stuff that Brian Hooker was telling Jim on the front of the rescue boat. Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Maybe over here, maybe over there. But I was just so confused. Sure, you're confused because you don't have your story straight. Because all that didn't happen. So I called Jim Todd. And. And I told him the news that I just told you. And his reaction was not what I expected. It wasn't what my reaction was, let's put it that way. Here's our conversation.

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[Ashley Banfield]

Jim, this is, this is really big news. It's. I guess you could say it's enormous news. I wanted to get your initial reaction to hearing this massive headline.

[Jim Todd]

Well, it's really shocking, but it's interesting that given the, maybe the fullness of time as so much time has passed from Brian Hooker's original story and so many pieces of that original story fell apart bit by bit. Naturally, people start to try and understand what actually happened. And for this information to kind of converge in that way, it's starting to make sense. Starting to make complete sense.

[Ashley Banfield]

I mean, you and I have been talking. Listen, it has been 94 days. And I'm recording this on July 7th, Tuesday, July 7th. You know, for three months, you and I have talked about, well, that's not possible. This isn't possible. Those things aren't possible. All related to his stories. And now, you know, effectively we were right. It wasn't possible. Lynette did not go out over the back of the dinghy. And I guess we all knew it in our gut, but to hear that it's definitive, it must invoke a certain kind of emotion, or maybe many.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, it's a lot of emotions. Certainly the first one is relief of at crossing this milestone, a sense of maybe even calm coming, because with the passage of time, in a certain way, anxiety increases slightly, or your emotions are on a roller coaster. You know, you can only imagine what Lynette's family has been going through. And so to hear this news, it is a relief and a calming of, okay, we're on a track to finding justice, to identifying what happened and making progress in the case versus when it's quiet and nothing's going on. It feels like, at least as part of the public, it's like treading water.

[Ashley Banfield]

It's treading water, and it's frustrating. You're so much more gracious than I am, and you have been since the get go. I am shocked that you're not angry and resentful of what that man did to you personally. He had you up on the top of that fire and rescue boat with other fire and rescue members, other Bahamian police officers, and just wound you all up. And, I mean, that's why I get angry. I get frustrated, and I say, you've got a lot of grace, but beneath that grace, there must be some. Some frustration.

[Jim Todd]

The first part, there's less frustration than you think, because myself, my wife, who is also on Hopetown Volunteer fire and Rescue, my other colleagues, when we get a call to do something, whether it was this search call or go to a medical emergency, sometimes when you get to the location, it's not what you thought, it's not as severe as thought. So I don't want to be too cavalier to say, well, it's what we sign up for, but it is what we've signed up for. And so when the call came that Sunday morning to go to work, people just go to work. And just like always, the communication method went across fire and rescue, and people responded as they could. And over the weeks, it's been amazing for me to reflect on how effective the search was in that first 12 hours and 36 hours. We had covered so much ground. And then beyond that, beyond that time frame, we've done a lot more searching. So it's not so much if it turns. If this case turns out what to be, what it appears to be. I don't have any control over what Brian Hooker did. And any way that we were misunderstood,

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led

[Jim Todd]

was the action of him. We just did our job the best that we knew how to do. And then with the passage of time and more elements of the story coming out, and it became crystal clear that that was impossible. It was interesting that even the, I might say, the old salts on the island, the crusty guys who might be more likely to give the benefit of the doubt or might be more likely to say, it's a big old world out there. You don't know what might happen. Even those guys had no illusions of what the. Of the lack of reality and what the original story was and kind of the sentence. I don't know how he did it, but he did it.

[Ashley Banfield]

Well, I'll second that, because when I was there and when I met you, we were hard pressed to find anyone who believed that story. I think we might have come across one person who thought, well, you never know. And I sensed right away what kind of person that was. But everyone else with just a modicum of reasonable, you know, nature all had a feeling that something was rotten in Denmark. And now it's proven. Now our sources are telling us that, yeah, it was all a lie. Every bit of it was a lie. This is where it happened. She was floating. I threw the floaty. I called out to her. I couldn't hear, but then she could hear or he could hear her. I mean, there was all sorts of iterations of his story, and it could have happened there or there or there, and I'm not so sure. But all of it amounts to just an extraordinary lie about what is being investigated as a murder.

[Jim Todd]

Right. And, you know, it's interesting that so many people had to come to bear to unravel each little piece of the story, because one little corner of the story unraveling wasn't enough. But as each person who had some. Some evidence stepped forward and spoke to the Bahamian police and spoke to the U.S. coast Guard investigative Services, then all of the multiple pieces unraveled, ultimately unraveled. So the story, if our understanding that you now have today, bears out, it's really shocking, and it's done, it seems to me.

[Ashley Banfield]

I mean, I certainly feel that way. I mean, my spidey senses after doing this job for so long, is that an indictment is imminent. But I want to just reread some of the texts that he sent you during this whole big, fat, ugly lie, winding you up, the day of winding you up for. For days afterwards. Captain Jim. And of course, you and I both talked about this. He calls you Captain Jim, I think, just because you helped him on board, even though you weren't captaining the vessel. Captain Jim. I'm so sorry it's so late and there is no need to reply until tomorrow. I made a little picture that has my route to the Marsh Harbor Boat works. I had a paddle and I purposely tried to steer for that because I knew that Matlow's Key is a private resort under construction. Did we check there? And Sugarloaf Quay? Lynette just needed to find land and the most. She may have floated there, but almost certainly there's nobody on the key on Easter weekend until maybe tomorrow. It sort of fits with the flood tide till midnight and the ebb tide after along with that terrible east wind. Thanks again and I appreciate you. I'll be off the boat in the morning with some family and away from WI Fi, so may not be able to get back to you right away, but I will as soon as I get WI Fi. I just didn't want to go to sleep and forget this.

[Jim Todd]

Yes, it was quite a wound up tale. I was thinking just a few days ago that myself personally and my wife searching with me, Cindy again, who's also

[Ashley Banfield]

Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Please everybody give generously.

[Jim Todd]

Yes. And both of my daughters who are adults went out on that Sunday morning, that following Tuesday morning and then multiple days later. And between all of us, just us, then there are many more people, but just us, we probably, we easily have over probably 150 hours of searching. And the areas that Cindy and I took on as a responsibility or took on as our area was really quite remote and quite difficult to get to. And between us and many others right away there were people out in boats. There were people out in all train vehicles. There were people out on foot. There have been people out on multiple small boats, kayaks walking the beaches. And so if people immediately adjacent to me are 150 hours, add that 10 times at least a thousand hours plus thousands of hours. And I don't think Brian Hooker searched one hour. And that contrast is stark. But even having said that, I'm not bitter because he may have taken extreme actions that normal people don't take. And all the rest of us, my colleagues on fire and rescue, other people in the Bahamas, other people who have visited the Bahamas and just care and love this area of the Abacos, all of them have poured their heart and soul into trying to get to the reality of what happened. Finding Lynette, finding her remains, once it became obvious that that would be the case. So just a stark juxtaposition of the mindset of Brian Hooker versus the mindset of the rest of humanity.

[Ashley Banfield]

The rest of humanity. That's a really good way to put it honestly, because the rest of us absolutely cannot believe what we are seeing developing, you know, And I guess in the end we really can because the stories were so fantastical, you know, and they were so easily disproved.

[Jim Todd]

What's fascinating to me is that given some time and an opportunity to be thoughtful and an opportunity to consider the actual facts, the story, and again, certain people coming forward with bits and pieces of information, that story falls apart. But it also has been fascinating to me. When the Coast Guard investigative services came in particularly, I did not work with them the first time. They came in probably the middle of April. But when they came back the end of May, I had an opportunity to spend some time with them. And I was really impressed with how smart and top of the game they were. At one point, my wife and I were with him and Cindy had to step away. And I said something to the effect of, okay, come back when you can, Dr. Todd, Cindy's a PhD. And so I made some affectionate reference to that. And the four or five guys that I'm standing with said that, ah, well, now that she's walked away, we've only got three PhDs here. So these were. These were sharp. These were the heavy ones.

[Ashley Banfield]

I remember when I first met them and discovered that, you know, these guys who look like they were Seal Team 6 were all PhDs. So in. In criminology and forensics. And I thought. And one of them, an expert in, you know, all things Marine, which was so helpful because this was what disprove proved so much of what Brian said. His knowledge of the rest of us in the marine community is clearly lacking because anybody with half a brain would have known what the winds were that night, what the tides were that night, and that his lies began there.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's just impressive that the brain power that has been brought to bear on this. And you said something earlier that probably was over generous in the context of me maybe keeping my calm when I just got the call today that there was some new information. There was a fair amount of screaming and jumping up and down.

[Ashley Banfield]

I think we all have just been waiting for. For the shoe to drop. It feels like it's dropping now. I can't say that it is right away. I think Brian better have lots of billable hours, you know, right now with that fancy federal former federal attorney, he's going to need it. I do want to ask you a little bit more about the text messages that he sent you because they continued I mean, he strung you and Cindy and anybody else in Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue, please give generously.

[Jim Todd]

Let me jump in real quick.

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[Jim Todd]

Let me jump in real quick. You've been very gracious to make that comment, to give to Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. And it's not part of my responsibility to follow that and be aware of that. But I did ask the people who do, who are responsible for that and they have said that, yeah, actually Banfield's people have been making contributions. And so thank you to you. But to the people who watch your show, we appreciate it. It makes a difference because nobody gets paid and the mo. The money only comes from donations and that money goes to buying gas and doing equipment maintenance and replacement equipment. So you've been very gracious and I'm sorry I interrupted you.

[Ashley Banfield]

I'm glad you did because I had no idea. I haven't followed up to find out, but drop dead serious, folks. Thank you so much. My God, this just warms my heart. If there's a bright spot in this awfulness, I just know that Darlene would appreciate knowing that the drop dead serious community has come through and will continue to come through. I'll continue to ask for those pledges because he wasted your resources. He took your fuel, he took your people, he took your boats, he took your gas. He. He took it all for many, many days. And that's not even, you know, taking into account all the civilians who took seven to ten dollar a gallon gas and went out in their vessels in the, in the Sea of Abaco to just look on their own. Nathan, who went out daily searching the beaches, crossing the Sea of Abaco in a very, very low horsepower boat. You know, it really is special to know that this, this community watching right now is coming through again. Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. If you Google it, you'll see them. Please give, if you can, even just a little bit. It really makes a huge difference. Okay, back to this text messaging. Because when I see them again, now knowing definitively, I mean, I always felt it in my heart that he was a big fat liar. But knowing it now and reading these. Hello, Captain Jim, this is Brian Hooker. I finally got WhatsApp running and I just got off the phone with one of our kids and she begged me for an update. I've been in touch with the police twice just to update my location and they've not mentioned anything. I did update the embassy as well and she was pleasantly surprised. The Coast Guard was still searching today. If they are. I'm so sorry to put you in this position, but do you have any information you could share with me? Oh, my God. He's not asking, have you found Lynette? He's asking, what do you know?

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, but I have. It just doesn't make me mad. You know, I had.

[Ashley Banfield]

What makes one of us. I'm angry for you. I'll take that on for you.

[Jim Todd]

All right.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

All right.

[Jim Todd]

Well, you and I have different roles, and so let's. Let's do each of them. Great.

[Ashley Banfield]

Okay.

[Jim Todd]

You know, my job was to stay focused on what could be done. It turns out that apparently Brian Hooker is weaved quite a tale. And someone who's going to kill his wife is gonna weave a tale. So I have such low expectations of him. I'm not mad at the lies that he told me because he's just gonna lie. I had the job. And others, many others had the job of first trying to find her alive, then trying to find her body, and then trying to find her remains. And we just focused on that. And to learn that someone who may have killed his wife fabricated a fantastic story to cover it up, that's his problem. And the investigators will get him. We will do our job when we get a call and then ask you

[Ashley Banfield]

to be complicit in, you know, tipping him off as to what kind of, you know, what kind of information you. You might have on the people who have responded, AKA the Coast Guard.

[Jim Todd]

Right. Yeah.

[Ashley Banfield]

Dirt ball. I'll say it. I know you won't, but. Absolute dirt ball.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, There's.

[Ashley Banfield]

And this is before, by the way. This is before we can definitively say he's a killer. I don't know that. That's for a jury to decide if he gets indicted. He hasn't been charged with anything yet. I will always add that because I know it's coming. But, you know, this is someone who now we know is just a filthy, awful liar about something that is just so precious to some. You know, her family was holding out hope that the words he was spewing might have actually been true and that they might actually have a chance of finding her. Here's another one, Jim. This one came to you as well. Sorry I missed this, Captain. I was walking around town looking for a SIM card, and I learned that everything was closed. I just arrived back to the boat. Some of my in laws have arrived today.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, they never materialized, did they?

[Ashley Banfield]

Boy, oh, boy. That's a real. Ooh. But I don't know where they're staying. We haven't been able to connect yet. My sister is coming tomorrow with her husband around 10am I suppose I was thinking of hiring someone to take me to Tulu Key tomorrow. You gave him numbers, didn't you? Because he wanted to rent a boat to go look for Lynette. You gave him phone numbers and then you followed up with the people whose numbers belong to. What did they say the most?

[Jim Todd]

I guess the best. The crystallization of what their reaction was. Well, number one, he didn't contact any of them. And number two, I was talking with someone who is part of one of the establishments right where his boat was moored in Marsh Harbor. After it had been moved from the site of the incident, he moved it to Marsh Harbor. And having a conversation along the lines of this text message, this is several weeks later with an individual associated with one of the establishments there said wait, wait, that guy. That guy just sat on the dock all afternoon every day drinking coffee. So that was at least a level of perceived intensity immediately after the incident

[Ashley Banfield]

and the effort to search and the things he was telling all sorts of people. I'm getting a boat. I'm out searching. I'm prepping for a boat. Jim, you got some numbers of a captain? Yeah. They never got the call. Yeah, there's more he goes on to say. I mentioned to Rick today that while I was sitting, sitting in the boat last night pondering, it seemed to me that she came off our boat almost directly in line to the north, which would put her a little south of the channel and that she was attempting to swim to the sailboat. I'm wondering if currents or tides might have carried her all the way south between Lubbers Cay and Elbow Cay. The only person I know with a boat is a bartender at Snappa's by the conch in my sailboat's on a mooring ball in front of the conc in until this weather passes and I can get to the hardware store to rig a switch for the anchor, the windlass by the helm so that I can single hand back to the search area. Maybe on Thursday or Friday depending on weather. This is him saying I gotta re rig the the windlass that pulls up the anchor and drops the anchor so that I can do it from the helm all by myself because there's no Lynette anymore to help me. This is his wordy concern.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, that's right. It was really more like re rigging the story because recall on Sunday morning after the Saturday night where the incident occurred, I was standing on the Front of the rescue boat with him, literally with my hand on his shoulder, pointing to say, okay, from what you're telling me, she went off right here. She went over right here. And I'm pointing at a certain patch of water in front of us. And we get closer to that patch of water and I say, okay, this is it right here. Yes, yes, that's right. Well, we're so close to shore. I then point at the shore and said, and so she would have swum right over there. So that's where she would have gone. And the boat was so far away behind us relative to this short distance to land. That rewriting of the story that you were just describing just was nonsensical.

[Ashley Banfield]

Nonsensical. Oh, he went on, Jim, I just realized I didn't answer your question about the green flotation device. I do not know if they recovered it or do I know if the boat that you and I were on together could not make it in to that where that smaller boat was. And then you responded and he said, thank you, Captain. I appreciate your kindness and that of your team so much. I am hopeful for good news tomorrow. It just makes my skin crawl.

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, well, I guess I have to put it. I put it into a capsule so that, you know, the next time we get a call. I'm not thinking, I'm not suspicious that we just go to work and search. And I try, I'm just not. It just doesn't surprise me that somebody who. If someone would kill their wife, they would do this.

[Ashley Banfield]

Spin the yarn, but just the extra. I think it's the extra, Jim. It's the captain. Jim, I appreciate you and your crew so much. It's just, it's all the extra. He probably didn't imagine as he was winding everybody up with whatever happened on Soulmate, all the extra accolades and love he was going to have to effusively pour out knowing that the circumstance was what it was. Remember the green floaty? You photographed it, you saw it, you retrieved it and you sent him the note saying, this is the green cushion we saw Sunday morning. Is this the one that you threw? And he answered, yes, yesterday. That just get found. Sorry, I meant to ask, did that just get found yesterday or did they pick it up? The day I was out there, was there a similarly colored dry bag nearby? It might have been slightly brighter. It would have been held about. It would have held about 10 pounds. So a medium sized one with a black strap. You know, the dry bag is a whole other issue here because if she didn't go over with the keys and the dry bag and the passports. Where's the dry bag, Brian? Where's the dry bag? She didn't go over. She made it back to Soulmate. Which means the dry bag made it back to Soulmate.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

Right.

[Jim Todd]

Right. And, you know, I think maybe one of his next text messages to me, maybe immediately following that, his response was, it's incredible that. Do you happen to have that message?

[Ashley Banfield]

I. I sure do.

[OnDeck Advertiser (Alternate)]

Let me.

[Ashley Banfield]

Let me continue on the. The thread. You answered, I came and retrieved it just now, but I will look for the dryback. And then he said, wasn't there a subdivision? About half a dozen houses or so back there. Thank you, Jim. I thought that small boat behind us was going to go and check out that floaty when we were with the police that day. Can you take a bigger frame picture? Really? He put it there also. I was turned around on the boat and tired that day with you. Where is that exactly?

[OnDeck Advertiser (Alternate)]

Really?

[Ashley Banfield]

You put. Put it there. It didn't go out with Lynette. You did not throw it out with Lynette. We know all that now. So this is all just. You answered, 100 yards south of where your dinghy was. I'll send you the pin shortly. I'm searching the shore a little to the south. I'll be back there in a few minutes. Oh, he's allowing you to just do that. And then he answers, and this is what you were alluding to. Incredible to think we. We floated all that way, a hundred yards apart. Then you ask, did you see her grab it? He answers, in your experience, will she be nearby? I'm sorry to ask this. No, I did not see her grab this. And then you answered, it confirms we're in the right area here or north end of Lubbers. And he goes, 100%. And you said, police have come and retrieved the cushion. We did a thorough search of 300 yards south. Nothing found. We have stopped because of the rain. Jim, thank you and the team so much. We appreciate you. I'll be off in the boat in the morning with the family. Oh, God.

[Jim Todd]

You know, I think when there were a lot of things, really starting on Sunday, but that was Tuesday. And that comment, it's incredible that we both drifted. Drifted so far 100 yards apart, isn't it? And I thought. I thought, well, wait a minute. There's nothing incredible about that because going back to the. Going back to the so called story.

[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah.

[Jim Todd]

Well, you both go into the water at the same place and the wind is blowing a Certain way. Then you end up in the same place. There's nothing.

[Ashley Banfield]

You have no propulsion. It has no propulsion.

[Jim Todd]

Exactly. There's nothing incredible about that and that.

[Ashley Banfield]

But you know what it is, Jim? This is what criminals do that I have experienced in the past. They hammer home details with people. They want to be witnesses to disprove what could be their undoing. They hammer that home. So they make a comment to lock it in your mind. Incredible how that green cushion floated all that way with me. What's incredible is that you floated because you didn't need to float. You manufactured your float. Now, why would you do that? Why would you manufacture that float?

[Jim Todd]

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, as it unfolded, the way he talked, his manner of speaking, and so much that has gone since then is he has a tone of voice that people recognize as a schemer, to just put it in a simple word. And it's. It. There's people like that in the world, and they think they're smarter than everybody else, and they really go through life smarter than everybody else. And most people keep them at arm's length because they figure out you're not a reliable person, you're not a truthful person, and they go through life scheming, thinking that they're really killing it.

[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah. You know what else was this scheming, scammy, scumbag kind of comment was when he poured on the tears for CBS and said, I'll never leave here. It's gonna take a higher power to get me out of here. Well, I've learned he was an atheist. So what did that mean, Jim? You know? Come on. Like, what did it mean, you know, when you said, brian, you're an atheist? What higher power is there?

[Jim Todd]

Yeah.

[Ashley Banfield]

Let me ask you this, because I'm not only frustrated with liars and cheaters and thieves and certainly murderers, of which we don't know he is yet we do know he's a liar. You mentioned thousands of hours of searching went on. When you do an aggregate of the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue, please give generously, as well as the community that jumped in with their own gas, their own boats, everything, their own hours. What, do you think that Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue is actually out based on all of the work you did searching for Lynette that day, searching for Lynette the day after, and all the subsequent days after that, searching for her or her body?

[Jim Todd]

You know, I can't answer the question. That would require more thought than I can do spontaneously. But I'll tell you what. They have is their integrity. So that when the phone goes off in the middle of the night to come make a call, they hop out of bed and go. And the way this has turned out won't have any effect on that team's willingness and readiness and speed to get to the job. So they've held onto that and the other cost. That's just money. They have their integrity.

[Ashley Banfield]

Listen, we all knew you had your integrity. That was never in question. I'm frustrated with the money that you've lost because there are a lot of really good people in the Abacos who need your help and you are volunteer. Those resources are limited. And so having that pie piece taken out by a liar just makes me that much, much more frustrated. I want to get to the bottom of how much that was and I also want to put out that appeal again. Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Google it. Please give generously. They did all this. They got scammed by this monster. And the good people of the Abacos and the Bahamas may suffer because of it. Just because of the, you know, the limited, you know, pie that it is. Jim Todd, you know how I feel about you. I've said it often. I'll say it again. You're not all heroes wear capes. Some of you are just in boats.

[Jim Todd]

Well, thank you. You're very kind. It's a pleasure to talk with you.

[Ashley Banfield]

Pleasure's mine. Thank you for what you do and tell all the rest of the team and Cindy, your gorgeous, awesome wife, how much we all appreciate you.

[Jim Todd]

Okay, thank you very much.

[Ashley Banfield]

My great thanks to Jim Todd with the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Please give generously. You know, it's guys like that that give me hope because of all the people I have to cover in my career, like Brian Hooker, the worst of the worst, Brian Hooker. And the best of the best, Jim Todd. And it keeps me balanced. It just keeps me sane and it gives me hope that there is so much good out there in humanity. So thank you to Jim Todd and Cindy and all of the other volunteers with with the Hopetown Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Tomorrow I have something else for you. Some heretofore unknown Facebook messages with Brian Hooker and some things that he said to Lynette's friend, who you have not yet met, that are yet again, bald face, provable lies. I'm going to share all of those texts with you tomorrow. And then I'm also going to talk to to Blaine Stevenson. I've talked to Blaine several times. Good friend of Lynette's, formerly good friend of Brian Hooker's doesn't believe a word of what that jack off says now. And we went over these texts together because, you know who else got a lot of communication like that? A lot of lies. And Blaine. He's going to join me tomorrow, and I'm going to show you all of these Facebook messages that just are. They're mind blowing. Knowing what we know now, that the evidence does show Lynette made it back to Soulmate. There was no bouncing off the back of the dinghy. There's evidence of foul play and a fight on board. And there's evidence that Lynette was dead on board. Soulmate. Tick tock, motherfucker. Brian, I don't like your odds. Thank you, everybody, for listening. Thank you, everybody, for watching. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious. Sam.