Lynette Hooker's Apple Watch Was on Her Wrist, Then Found on the Yacht? | Missing in Bahamas

Summary

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Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Episode: Lynette Hooker’s Apple Watch Was on Her Wrist, Then Found on the Yacht? | Missing in Bahamas
Date: April 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield delves into the mysterious disappearance of Lynette Hooker in the Bahamas. Focusing on compelling digital and physical clues, Banfield exposes the inconsistencies in Brian Hooker’s account—her missing husband—and zeroes in on crucial evidence like Lynette’s Apple Watch, missing dinghy paddles, and inconsistencies in reported wind conditions and timelines. The tone is irreverent, sharp, and investigative, with Banfield drawing on her decades of crime reporting to raise pointed questions and challenge official narratives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Scene and Setting

• Ashleigh recounts her time in the Bahamas investigating the Hooker case, noting the disconnect between the idyllic setting and the disturbing disappearance.
• Quote: “It was so lovely and so pretty… It was hard to believe that this terrible, shall we say, incident—because at this point we can’t say murder.” (01:02)
• She repeatedly underscores doubts about Brian Hooker’s version of events, particularly his claim that Lynette was lost at sea during a dinghy ride back to their sailboat.

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2. Dissecting Brian Hooker’s Story

• Ashleigh expresses strong skepticism about Brian’s narrative:

  • “I don’t believe Brian Hooker’s story. I haven’t met anybody who does.” (03:06)

  • Key inconsistencies highlighted:

    • Brian's claim of rough seas—debunked by evidence and eyewitness reports.
    • His vague and incorrect description of Lynette’s last known outfit to rescue workers.

    Quote: “Bro, we saw the picture. Why didn’t you mention the green cover up? Why didn’t you mention the bright blue headscarf?” (07:27)

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3. Digital Evidence: The Apple Watch Mystery

• The centerpiece of the episode is Lynette’s Apple Watch, discovered on their sailboat “Soulmate”—contradicting Brian’s assertion Lynette never made it back onboard.
  • Quote: "How did your Apple Watch that’s on your wrist late in the afternoon… get onto the sailboat? Because you never made it to the sailboat.” (12:18)
• Ashleigh emphasizes that the “digital exhaust” from such devices could prove critical, especially since Lynette’s Apple Watch was connected to her iPhone and regularly used “Find My Phone.”
  • Suggests the digital trail could be as damning as DNA at a crime scene.
• She also recaps the story of Lynette’s other, non-Apple watch (a green technical model), left behind, questioning whether authorities collected it as evidence.

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4. Brian’s Technical Watch and Behavioral Red Flags

• Brian’s own “glued to his wrist” tech watch is discussed at length. Photos show a dramatic tan line, and Banfield notes its absence in photos post-arrest and that the Bahamian police did not keep it as evidence.
  • Quote: "Why didn't you seize that watch as evidence? It's a digital trail, y’all. Like, it tells you everything. And that could… have held so much evidence, but they didn't.” (28:33)
• Behavior after Lynette’s disappearance is described as suspicious:
  • Brian failing to offer key details to rescuers.
  • His rapid departure from the Bahamas after release from custody, contradicting his statements about “never leaving without Lynette.”
  • Lack of initiative in participating in search efforts.

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5. The Paddles, Floatation Device, and Wind Patterns

• Missing paddle: Ashleigh tracks the discovery of a dinghy paddle on Lubbers Quarters, south of where Brian washed up. This is used to illustrate issues with the drift pattern Brian describes.
  • Quote: "How did you end up so far north, but your paddle ended up so far south? Curious, isn't it?" (34:49)
• The green float seat (“swimmy thing”)—supposedly thrown to Lynette—was found on the same shore as Brian, just 100 yards apart, lending further skepticism to his tale of a wild night adrift.
  • Supporting video and graphics from the fire and rescue team are referenced. (39:18)
• Banfield highlights that eyewitness and weather data do not support the scenario of hurricane-like winds during the supposed accident.
  • Quote: “She and her husband were in the dinghy, and she said, there's no way we would have gone out in the dinghy if it were the conditions he was describing.” (37:36)

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6. Social Media Clues & Community Sleuthing

• Listeners are urged to submit any photos or info about the night in question: “If you see the image on your screen...send it to dropdeadseriousinfomail.com” (31:11)
• Banfield points out the importance (and sometimes misdirection) of social media sleuthing, such as the debunked theory regarding Brian and Lynette’s paddle-boarding location relative to the disappearance.
  • Quote: “This paddle boarding was inside the harbor, so it wouldn't have given you any knowledge of that other shore…” (48:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On digital evidence mirroring DNA:
  “It is big. It's really big. It's one of those things like Bryan Kohberger, you know, left DNA on the knife sheath big. Or took his own car to a murder scene big. Right? I think we all kind of get it in this day and age that your digital trail will usually trip you up.” (03:17)
• On Brian’s failure to describe Lynette’s clothing:
  “If my husband went missing like that, I would be saying, let me think, let me think… You'd be combing every enel of your mind to think of details… Ryan didn't seem to remember she was wearing a bright blue headscarf.” (08:16–09:15)
• On the Apple Watch’s damning implication:
  “If those devices made it to Soulmate, you're fucked.” (18:21)
• On why the story is so implausible:
  “The story that he gives is that around 7:30 they got into that dinghy… and only, you know, about six to ten minutes later, hell broke loose. Two to four foot waves. They weren't.” (49:14)

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Key Timestamps

• [01:02] — Ashleigh shares her skepticism, introducing main inconsistencies.
• [03:06–04:25] — Expresses doubt, previewing digital/evidentiary “big clues.”
• [07:27] — Photo evidence: Lynette’s last outfit and critical missing details from Brian’s account.
• [12:18] — Central Apple Watch question: how was it found on the boat?
• [18:21] — Digital evidence analogy: “If those devices made it to Soulmate, you're fucked.”
• [28:33] — On Brian’s technical watch and the police’s investigative missteps.
• [34:49] — Theories on missing paddle, wind/current analysis.
• [37:36] — Eyewitness refutes Brian’s account of weather and sea conditions.
• [39:18] — Fire/rescue finds and describes the green floatation cushion; map analysis.
• [48:48] — Social media sleuthing: debunks paddleboard location theory.
• [49:14] — Summary of the night in question; setting the stage for next episode.

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Additional Context & Listener Engagment

• Encouragement to submit tips/photos: dropdeadseriousinfomail.com or via the US Coast Guard CGIS Tips App.
• Teases next episode with more witness accounts and exclusive images from the Abaco Inn on the night of Lynette’s disappearance.

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Tone & Approach

Ashleigh Banfield’s style is forthright, colloquial, and relentless. She fuses her investigative acumen (“I’ve been reporting on this for 36 years”) with a personal, passionate delivery: “I smell a rat. Sorry, Brian, but… I just have a sneaking suspicion you will be [charged].”
Her interaction with the audience encourages active sleuthing but also checks runaway theories, maintaining focus on verified facts and urging care with speculative leaps.

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For Listeners: Why This Case Matters

This episode exemplifies the power of digital forensics, community investigation, and critical thinking in unraveling modern mysteries. Banfield leaves listeners with a sense of urgency and unresolved injustice, rallying public engagement to push for answers and accountability in Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.

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Transcript

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Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead Serious. I got a couple more things to tell you about this new mystery in the Bahamas. I keep calling it in my head, Paradise Lost. Because when I was there, Lindsay and I spent five days, like I would say, pounding the pavement, except that it was this beautiful aquiline, you know, halcyon environment in the Bahamas. And it was so lovely and so pretty. We were kind of bummed. We were working because everyone was having such a good time and enjoying themselves and so laid back and so kind of. It was hard to believe that this terrible, shall we say, incident, because at this point we can't say murder. Brian Hooker swears up and down that his wife just bounced off the back of the dinghy, just, you know, oops, and says the waves were so rough it was two to four foot seas and the wind was howling. And we've discovered that's not true. And now we've discovered something else tonight. And it is big. It's really big. It's one of those things like Bryan Kohberger, you know, left DNA on the knife sheath big. Or took his own car to a murder scene big. Right? I think we all kind of get it in this day and age that your digital trail will usually trip you up. And I think that may end up happening in this case. I'm just going to say I don't believe Brian Hooker's story. I haven't met anybody who does. I really, the more I talk to people and I'm still every single day talking to over a dozen people daily in the Bahamas and every single one of them guys lying. Nothing adds up. Story doesn't add up. Wind doesn't add up. None of it. And tonight I'm going to show you why the story of the watches doesn't add up. I'm going to tell you about Lynette's watch because that's a big clue. And Brian's watch, that's another clue. I got a couple other things to tell you about. Remember that paddle that Brian says he lost? He calls them oars. Right. He's got two oars. They've got pins on them like regular oars would have. But there's no pin sockets on the dinghy, so I don't know, I think they just used them as paddles. But he told everybody who would listen, I lost one of those that terrible night that Lynette bounced off the back of the dinghy and I got separated in the current and the wind and she was getting farther and farther and the two to four foot waves, I couldn't see her head. And it was getting dark. It was like close to 8 o' clock at night. And she had the keys in the dry bag. She happened to just grab the dry bag on the way out. And the lanyard that had the key, electric key to the engine. Oh, here I go. Yeah. None of that adds up, however. What's really fascinating is he says he lost his paddle. Well, now I know where that paddle may have washed up. May have washed up. Up until now it's been like, where's this mystery paddle? See, if Abaco is not that big. I mean, it kind of looks big, but it's just like a giant swimming pool. And you can see the bottom everywhere, really, really shallow, like 6, 8, 9ft. And then at its deepest at high tide, maybe 15, but you can see everything and everything would wash up on the shores. Right. But the paddle has been missing until discovered maybe where it ended up today. I'm going to tell you all about that in a minute. Also, I'm going to get you up to speed on something a lot of you have been talking about. You know that floaty that Jim swears he. So it's like a, it's like a, it's like a swim floaty. They used it as kind of seat cushions on the side of the dinghy, like on the, on the hull, the gunnel of the dinghy. But he says, I tossed it to her and I don't know if she got it or not. And it floated away and it ended up on shore where Brian ended up on shore. A lot of you have been asking, you're a little bit confused about where that, that floaty ended up in comparison to the dinghy. I've got all of that for you. Maps, char, everything and all from the rescuers. You're even going to see the rescuer who found it. He videotaped himself going to it and picking it up. So you see that in a minute. And then there's something else you probably saw in the last episode. Last couple episodes, we've had some pretty good exclusive pictures. But one of the exclusive pictures we got was a picture of Lynette taking a selfie at the pool. You know, just like not even an hour and a half or two before she disappeared forever. At least disappeared until now. And that picture, well, there were so many things you're going to learn about in that picture. But I probably should have made a bigger deal yesterday about the fact that Lynette's wearing a bright blue headscarf in this picture. She's enjoying the sun and the wind on the Atlantic side. And by the way, the picture shows how rough it is over on the Atlantic side of Elbow Key. Yeah. But on the other side, right, like that's the east shore that you're seeing on the western shore. It's calm and lovely. It's why everybody anchors their boats there because it's safe. And the lee side of the island has no wind. And that's the story of Brian's night. Because everyone we've talked to and all the evidence we've seen and something you're going to see a little later in this episode shows there were no two to four foot seas. And the wind pattern that Brian swears was happening wouldn't. No, it wouldn't. So Lynette is taking this picture and she's got this bright blue headscarf. She's also got her green bathing suit cover up and what looks like a black fanny pack. And it's kind of weird, but it looks like she's got a black fanny pack that she's wearing. But it also looks like there's something black that's on the sun chair in front of her. So the deal with that is when Brian was pressed by the fire and rescue volunteers that busted their asses to help find Lynette the next morning. Right. They kept asking him over and over, well, what was she wearing? What are we looking for? What are we looking? What was the last thing she was wearing? What was she wearing when you last saw her? And all Brian said was a two piece black bathing suit. Now I've come to learn it's not a bikini. It's actually like a two piece that covers your tummy. It might have like a fabric that falls over the. The midriff maybe, but it's a two Piece, black bathing suit. And that is it. That's all Brian would say. And they pressed him. I talked to them. I talked to the fire two of them. I talked to both fire and rescue guys who were really on lead and on point. And all they would say is that she was. He said. All they would say is that he said she was wearing a two piece black bathing suit. Well, bro, we saw the picture. Why didn't you mention the green cover up? Why didn't you mention the bright blue headscarf? That sort of stands out. How about the black fanny pack or whatever that black thing was on the sun chair in front of her while she's taking a selfie? Because if my husband went missing like that, I would be saying, let me think, let me think. I know he had a. Oh, God. Yeah, yeah. He had a bandana. He was wearing a bandana. And the swim shorts were, you know, patterned. You'd be combing every enel of your mind to think of details of what your loved one was wearing when she went overboard. Ryan didn't seem to remember she was wearing a bright blue headscarf. It was bright blue, one small. And that stands out because not everybody wears a headscarf like that. Ryan didn't mention she had that black fanny pack thing or whatever that black thing was on the sun chair in front of her. I think she's also wearing sunglasses. Didn't mention that. That is huge. The green cover up, dude, come on. He didn't mention any of that. Those are huge details that this so called grieving spouse just. I don't know. Black, black bathing suit. I don't know, maybe two piece. I smell a rat. Sorry, Brian, but if you get arrested again. Well, if you get arrested and charged, you weren't charged the first time. If you do, and I. I just have a sneaking suspicion you will be. You're going to have to answer to all of this. You're going to have to answer to why a grieving spouse wouldn't give a. About what his wife was wearing when you last saw her in this tragedy. It's a big deal for me. It's been a big deal for others, too. Friends of Lynette's have been apoplectic about this. I've been talking to Blaine Stevenson a lot. He and his wife Marnie are also sailors. And they're just. They're literally sun up to sundown trying to put the pieces together on this, on this case. And that really pissed them off. You didn't even tell the rescuers about everything. The scarf, the COVID up, the black thing. Like, what the hell? I can see why they're mad. I'm mad. I didn't know Lynette and I'm mad. Okay, let's talk about her apple watch. Early in this story, we told you that the Royal Bahamian police got Lynette's apple watch. Originally there was a story that broke that it might have been on a beach. That was dispelled. It was not. They got it off soulmate, their 46 foot catch, the sailboat that they've been living on for the last four years. The royal Bahamians got it off the sailboat. Little pink apple watch. So that is a huge detail. Now because of the photo that we uncovered. That photo, that exclusive photo, that yes, drop dead serious, we got that. That exclusive photo shows what sure as hell looks like a powder pink apple watch and band on Lynette's hand on her wrist. Just take a look. That's not a tan line. That pretty much looks like an apple watch on her wrist right there. I don't know anybody with tan lines that huge and that significant that could be caught in a photo like that. That looks like the apple watch. So my friends work with me here. If you are at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Key up until at least 7 o', clock, because that's the last photo we have of Brian heading down towards the dock by himself without her. So we know at least they're there at 7pm if you are getting in the dinghy and you're heading back to your keel boat that is anchored only about 12 minutes away, Dinghy ride around the corner, off to the left, south down Elbow Key towards Tahiti Beach. It's beautiful. How did your apple watch that's on your wrist late in the afternoon, how did that get onto the sailboat? Because you never made it to the sailboat. Lynette never made it to the sailboat. This much Brian tells us, right? She bounced off the back on the way to the sailboat. The seas were. The seas were rough, my friend. What does George Costanza say? Yeah, the seas were 2 to 4ft. She bounced off the back. She never. We never. We never made it to the sailboat. She had the keys. And I floated for nine hours. Bullshit. I floated for nine hours across the Sea of Abaco and ended up on the shores of Marsh Harbor. Okay, so neither of you made it back to the sailboat. How did her little pink apple watch make it back to the sailboat? Brian, Brian, you got some explaining to do because if she's wearing that Apple watch and she went overboard, it should still be on her wrist, wherever she is. It shouldn't be on board Soulmate for the Royal Bahamian police to collect. Not only that, but we all know how electronics work, don't we? We all know that your hip bones connected to your leg bone and your Apple Watch is connected to your Apple phone. Yeah. And I can tell you that Lynette's Apple Watch was connected to her iPhone because her daughter, Carly Aylesworth tells me she constantly did find my phone, like I do all the time. If I didn't, I would never. Lynette did that all the time, according to her daughter. So the Apple Watch is connected to the iPhone. So if that Apple watch made it out on board Soulmate, and it probably connected to the Internets, that's the kind of stuff you can find. That's the kind of stuff the experts call digital exhaust. And if her phone as well made it up onto Soulmate.

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Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit tremphyaradio.com that's going to connect to the Internet too. They had Starlink. They had Starlink really high up on their mast too. And I've been told that the way that would affect things is that you'd actually connect further away. You know, if your Starlink is low down, you might come towards the boat and connect, you know, close to the boat. But if it's up high, you'll. You'll connect much farther out because you gotta. I've been told that I can't attest to that myself. Haven't done the test myself, but others have said that they might have connected to the Starlink sooner if. If this whole story of Brian is just horseshit and there was nobody going over the side of the boat. Maybe that dinghy made it all the way back to Soulmate with Lynette and her watch and her phone and their passports and everything else he says was in that dry bag. Maybe they made it back onto Soulmate and maybe something happened On Soulmate maybe. Because I'll tell you what, with the story that Brian is spinning, you didn't make it to Soulmate, so your devices should not have made it to Soulmate. And if those devices made it to Soulmate, you're fucked. If Lynette's device made it to Soulmate, game over. If Brian's devices made it to Soulmate, game over. If anybody checked an email or you just got on board and you hand shook with your own, you know, Starlink, game over. Cuz nobody was supposed to be within a thousand feet of Soulmate when Brian's emergency happened. And then he was set adrift a thousand yards away from Soulmate and getting further and further and further to the west until he went up on Marsh harbor nine hours later in a wind that was like. I know there's been discrepancies on the wind, but more and more we're getting reports that wind was. It really wasn't. It wasn't two to four foot seas and it wasn't screaming out there. Maybe as you got closer to Marsh harbor then the wind have picked up a little more and would have been busier. But your emergency happened in the lee side of Elbow Key where it's basically snorkeling weather. So there's a lot that's not adding up. And that apple watch of Lynette's, boy I sure hope that her apple watch that she loved will tell the story. Let me tell you a little story about her apple watch. I guess she loved it so much that the battery was starting to get weak. Mine did once I had to replace mine, it just wouldn't hold a charge. It almost would die before I'd go to bed. And so with Lynette that was the case. Her little pink or powder pink apple watch was getting too weak if she couldn't even wear it through the night to do like the sleep, you know, the sleep analysis that your watch will do for you. She couldn't do that because her watch wouldn't last. She. She just couldn't hold a charge that long. And this is according to her daughter who was just there on the boat just a month and a half ago or so visiting. So Lynette needed a new watch and Brian told Carly, Lynette's daughter that he bought her a new watch. Not an apple watch though. He bought her a different kind of watch that is more like the way I've heard is more like his. And I think you can load navionics on his. It's more a technical watch. But it didn't fit. Apparently this watch did not fit. And so the plan was, when Carly was there, we'll give it to Carly. And Carly was thrilled and planned to take that watch with her because her mom and Brian said, this watch doesn't fit. It's new. Brian got it for me. You can have it, sweetheart. And she forgot it on the boat. She forgot it on the charger in the boat. The green watch that Brian bought for Lynette. Where's that watch? What's going on with that watch? Did the Royal Bahamians find that watch? Because it might have been in a drawer somewhere. Might have been somewhere on that boat. Did they get it? Did they collect that evidence? Because that's important. That watch would also be important. And when I mentioned that it's similar to Brian's watch. Let's talk a little bit about Brian's watch because there's been a couple things that we've noticed and we've been tracking it and I haven't brought you the story till now because I've been waiting on some answers and I'm not sure I have all of them. But I'll tell you where I'm at. You see Brian in all of his social media wearing this very light colored watch. Big, chunky, light colored watch. And from what Carly tells me, Brian's stepdaughter, Lynette's daughter, that watch was very technical and from what others have said it, it's likely that he was able to track his navionics and load navionics on that. And you can actually do so much with your watches these days if you're a mariner. I know my ex husband uses an EPIRB when he's out on the Long Island Sound because he goes out a lot alone and if anything ever happens, he can actually like send out a signal with his watch and then they'll come and rescue him. It'll. It'll actually send out a signal and your exact location will be pinned and rescuers will know to come and get you. So a lot of, a lot of people who are boat savvy and spend a lot of time on boats will have these very specialized watches like the EPIRB or like my ex husband has the epirb or like Brian had this specialized watch. I haven't gotten, I haven't nailed down exactly everything about that watch yet. But if you know, please put in the comments and email us the info because you guys have been amazing. I've already had several emails from people in the Bahamas who know people in the Bahamas who have cameras in the Bahamas who've taken pictures. And I am so incredibly thankful that you've done that and encourage you to continue sending us anything you might have, images, information about the watch that Brian wears. If you see the image on your screen in a moment, send it to drop dead serious infomail.com Again, drop dead serious. That's me. Info Gmail.com. it's super helpful. Drop dead serious info Gmail.com if you send us anything you might have. Look at your photos from the Abaco in that night from 6pm all the way through till 8pm see if you caught Lynette and Brian in the background. It's so important to see the timestamps and what they were doing because there's a lot of weird stuff that's coming in. I've got more episodes ahead on that. Also, if you don't want to send them to me, I get it. I understand you. I have another place where you can send them CGIS tips. Okay. That is an app. It is the Coast Guard's app for anonymous tips. It's just go to your app store, look for CGIS tips, and you'll see it right there. It'll say coast Guard anonymous tips. Boink. And there you can put it there. You can also go to the website P3. That's the letter P, the number three tips dot com. And there's a QR code we have on the screen as well. So pictures, video, and any information you have about the watch that you see Brian wearing in a lot of these videos. But about that watch, we are told by Carly and many others, he never took that watch off. He wore that watch all the time, like it was glued. And I don't disbelieve that because there's a curious little picture of Brian after he was arrested without the watch on and a big, big tan line where the watch would have been. And I'm like, wait a minute. This is after he was released. Like, where's your watch, bro? You never, ever took that watch off. And for a while there, I was playing parlor games with an expert here. And we're trying to figure out if he took the watch off when he was handcuffed in the police boat and oops, fell overboard. Because you remember that story. They arrested him on Soulmate, and then they put him in the police boat and they drove him to Grand Bahama island in Freeport, where they have the holding facility, the. The detention center for him, then the courthouse, and he Fell out and had to be rescued by the police officers. Like first of all, Bahamian police. What, what, how did you let that happen? You put a handcuffed guy in your boat. He had a flotation device on. Put a handcuffed guy in your boat and you're not kind of like watching him or next to him or making sure that can't happen. It happened. Out he went, as lawyers said, and they had to rescue him. And then he got injured and had to get some treatment for some superficial injuries on his leg. But I was wondering if, if when he was in the water he was like, I don't want my navionics, you know, I don't want them to have my navionics and show you everywhere I've actually been. I had to dispel that thought. So there's this image of him and I believe he's outside the police lockup the day after he's released because he's released at 8 o' clock at night. So this picture's broad daylight and he's holding his precious light colored watch. It's sort of lime green, I think, really, really light lime green. He's holding it in his hands almost as though he may have gone back to the police station to collect his, you know, personal effects. Because when you get arrested, usually you strip down of all your personal effects. Your watch, your earrings, whatever you got your nose ring, your thing, ring, and then you get it when you're released. But at 8 o' clock at night, this is not video of him holding his watch in the dark. And I know it's 8 o' clock at night. He was released at 8 and I know it's dark at 8. This is bright daylight. So my assumption is it might be the next morning. And that would be Tuesday the 14th of April. He's released on Monday the 13th of April at 8 at night. I think this photo may be Tuesday the 14th and those that day. So he's holding his watch and there you go, that watch that was off his wrist, suddenly he's got it back on his wrist. So that's super interesting. And he does these interviews with big major networks. He picks cbs, ABC and NBC. How cliche. Don't you know all the true, true crime viewers are watching here? This is where you're going to get the most viewers is in true crime podcasting. Come on, Brian, get with the times. Anyway, he does his interview with some of them and he's got his watch off. I'm just a little fascinated by why The Royal Bahamian Police didn't keep that watch. Like, why didn't you seize that watch as evidence? It. It's a digital trail, y'. All. Like, it tells you everything. And that could hold so well, could have held so much evidence, but they didn't. The Royal Bahamian Police didn't keep that watch. You can see him holding it in his hands as he's leaving. And by the way, when I say leaving. Yeah, that guy couldn't wait. He got his emergency passport, and the next day, you saw the pictures of him flying the coop, blowing this pup stand. Yeah. He decided that Bahamas was no longer for him, even though he said, I will never leave the Bahamas without my wife, Lynette. I will never stop searching for her. I'm going to try and rent a boat to go and search for her. You didn't. You didn't rent that boat. Certainly not from the number that you were given by the search and rescue fella that you asked, where can I rent a boat? Who can I call? He gave you the number. You never called them. We checked. So that's Brian Hooker. You know, I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt here, because that's what his lawyers asked us to do. But it's harder and harder and harder because all the stuff he says doesn't match the actual facts, doesn't match the tide patterns, doesn't match the wind doesn't match the timing doesn't match. You name it, doesn't match. The one thing I can say is that if I spent five days in a Bahamian detention cell, I might be a little concerned that they could lock me up again. And if I'm innocent, I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a Bahamian prison. So I can understand why maybe somebody might get on a plane and leave the jurisdiction when the getting's good. But if my husband were still floating out there, I wouldn't. I mean, I say that I. I really don't think I would leave him. I don't think I would leave. I know one thing. I'd have rented any boat I could find. I'd have been out there. I'd have asked the search and rescue guys, can I just come with you? Pick me up every day. You know that didn't happen. He's a lot of talk about the dinghy and his SIM card, a lot of that stuff. But he does not ask much about the search. He never asks the search and rescue guy, where's the command center? How many boats are out what's happening? What's being done to help find my wife doesn't ask. See why it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. Sorry, lawyer lady. It's just hard, okay? And also, come on, lawyer lady. He didn't even say what she was wearing to the search and rescue people. So yeah, benefit of the doubt is a real struggle. It's Everest at this point. So let's talk a little bit about the, the missing paddle because Brian says he lost an oar, right? He used it as a paddle. It has a pin on it. But I never saw any kind of receptacle for the pins in this dinghy. So I ass use these oars as paddles. But he said he lost one. And we've all been curious about where this thing, you know, ended up because it's a sea of abaco. It's going to end up on some shore. It's like a big, giant, giant lake. And nobody's been able to find the dry bag or the missing or paddle slash. I'm going to call it a paddle just for this purpose. And we've learned something interesting, especially as pertains to the pattern of the wind. And a neighbor that found a paddle that washed up on shore right after Brian Hooker ended up at Marsh Harbor. But it did not wash up at Marsh Harbor. It didn't end up anywhere near Marsh Harbor. It ended up on Lubbers quarters. Okay, so work with me here because it's really important to know that if you're on the western shore of Elbow Key where Brian says, you know, holy hell broke loose and you start drifting, you're gonna go with the wind and the tides and the currents. And the wind was blowing briskly southwest. I've seen the video. I've seen the video of the exact time between 7 and 8pm and 9pm and 10pm and I've seen the wind and it is blowing in a southerly direction and towards the west. Okay? So if you're in that little dinghy, you're going to blow that way too. Because the dinghy's above water, it's got some profile and the wind is going to catch it, which would put you squarely on lers. Brian. If you were floating, you would have blown into levers because as it turns out, we've learned your paddle most probably blew onto levers because there are some neighbors there of a guy I spoke with today that found a paddle on their shore halfway down. Lubbers. So if you look at Lubbers, you know, midway to the island and then a little further south, that's where the paddle washed up on Lubbers. Why would your paddle end up on Lubbers? And you ended up way north, skipping over Lubbers and heading all the way to Marsh harbor, four miles away. How'd you miss Lepers? Your paddle didn't, apparently. I will tell you this. These neighbors found the paddle and they gave it to the police. I am told that they were shown a photo of the matching paddle on board Soulmate and they said it looked the same. I have not had confirmation that it's the same paddle. I have not. It has not been confirmed to me that this is in fact Brian's missing paddle. But it sure is hanky that a paddle washed up on shore and these neighbors picked it up and took it to the police, Right? But that wind pattern where that paddle ended up. Brian, if that's your paddle, how did you end up so far north? How did you blow so far north, but your paddle ended up so far south it went right in to the midway point and even a little far south, further south than the midway point of Lubbers and washed up on the shore for those neighbors to pick up. Curious, isn't it? So let's talk about some other floaties and patterns. A lot of you have talked about the green flotation swimmy thing. It's kind of like. It's almost like what you would use as a flutterboard. It's really not a flotation device, but it's kind of spongy and you can sit on it, which is what Brian and Lynette used to do. They'd sit on the gunnels of their. Of their dinghy while they were driving. And he says, I grabbed that green one and I threw it to her. And I don't know if she ever got it. There were two life jackets in the bottom of the dinghy. When the fire and rescue saw the dinghy over, you know, marooned on the shore after his long night of floating. Okay, I know the wind wasn't screaming because I've seen it and I've seen the marine patterns. I've heard people who've been in dinghies in that exact place tell me, no way, no how was that wind so brut you couldn't throw a life jacket? There were no giant waves, right. 150 meters offshore in the lee of Elbow Key. It was not a screaming wind. At 7, 7:30 or 8 o' clock at night on Saturday, April 4, Liberty

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Witnesses have said it. Videos have said it. A woman I talked to today who was in her dinghy going back and forth along that shore, all the way down to Tahiti beach, all the way past the Abaco Inn and the White Sand Channel, and then all the way to the Firefly Inn where her boat was anchored. She and her husband were in the dinghy, and she said, there's no way we would have gone out in the dinghy if it were the conditions he was describing. So why didn't you throw the life jackets? Two of them. Why didn't you put one on and then swim to her with the other one? You're a U.S. marine, right? Okay, don't get me started. In any case, he says he throws the Green City cushion, you know, little floaty, swimmy thing, and that thing ends up all the way over on Marsh harbor with him. It made the same journey that he made, he said, and he actually said that's incredible because. And a lot of you have asked this question in the comments you said, I'm a little confused about where the, the green floaty device was compared to where he washed up on shore. So he washes up on the shore on the eastern shore of Marsh harbor, four miles away from Elbow Key. He crosses the Sea of Abaco all night for nine hours. Wouldn't take nine hours, not even in a wind, even in a breeze. It wouldn't take that long. And the green flotation swim cushion ends up 100 yards or so south of him on the same shore. And I want to show you now the fire and rescue volunteer who found it it and picked it up and videotaped picking it up. So take a look.

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This is, I'm retrieving the blue float that Brian Hooker said that he threw

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out of his boat

[A]

when his wife went missing. He said it was a green cushion that he described just like this. We saw this from the water on

[B]

Sunday morning and it is Tuesday morning

[A]

and we have come back and I'm pretty sure this is what Brian described. And

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the tip of man of war is right there, which would be consistent

[A]

with what we expected on the wind drift.

[B]

And I think this little graphic will help because this shows and this is drawn by the fire and rescue guys. The, the D is where the dinghy was found on Marsh Harbor's shore and the F is where the floaty was found on the shore. You can see how close they were, just 100 yards apart. And if you zoom out from there, you can see as you sort of look to the east, you can see the landmass that is Lubbers quarters. And that's the landmass that miraculously Brian missed as he was floating all the way across the Sea of Abaco. And we zoom out even more and you get to the place where this whole mess started. And that's over at Elbow Key right off the shore, 150 meters off the shore. He says, oh, Lynette went off the back and then, oh hell, whatever. I started my giant float that took nine hours to get all the way over to Marsh Harbor. But now you can kind of see that he, he missed that northern tip of lovers and, and ended up on that full float across to Marsh Harbor. And that little green floaty stayed with him the whole way. And yet if that paddle is his, it didn't. And we have not seen Lynette's dry bag because Lynette didn't squeeze all the air out of her dry bag. Normally you can see it in her dinghy often where she just folds it over a couple times like most people do, and then cliff, you know, cinches it. And. And that's the dry bag. So it would have floated more than likely where that potential paddle ended up. It. It would be somewhere. That dry bag would be somewhere. And that dry bag is supposedly containing his passport, her passport, their additional key. How convenient. To the. To the dinghy and maybe some other various and sundry things. I think her phone as well. So it hasn't turned up. Curious, though. Very curious why it wouldn't blow in the same pattern as that green flotation swimmy thing or even the paddle, because those went two different directions. And so did his dinghy. What's so interesting is I've spoken to that fire and rescue representative who picked up that floaty cushion. And this is the same fire and rescue representative with whom Brian was texting back and forth madly in the days after Lynette disappeared. And one of the things he said to this representative when he was told that it was found just 100 yards of where his dinghy had washed up on shore, he said, incredible to think we floated all that way a hundred yards apart. Yes, that is incredible. Especially since the ore that may be yours washed up on Lubbers way south of where you are now. I did speak with Blaine Stevenson about the difference between an oar floating and a cushion or a dinghy floating. And he did say that an aluminum or might fill with water somewhat and then be partially submerged. It doesn't have the high profile, so it's not catching the wind as much. So it's. It's really traveling more with the current and the tide than maybe with the wind. So there is that possibility as well, and I will give you that. But you can't ignore the wind that was blowing all the way to the southwest. Right. It was an east wind, and it was blowing to the south, and it was blowing to the west. Okay. And so your high profile dinghy would have been blown more because it's light right by the wind. You would have ended up on Lubbers in any case. Lynette would have too. If you really told the truth, Lynette would have also, more than likely with the flood patterns, the tide patterns, the wind. She would have also ended up on Lovers. But I will also add this because I spoke with one of the homeowners there who has told me that there is extensive bull shark patrolling, so to speak, along the Shore of Lubbers. Eastern shore of Lubbers. And that he doesn't even swim off his dock because he regularly sees bull shark activity swimming up and down the shore of Lubbers. And so, again, I don't for a minute believe that Lynette went in the water the way Brian says she did. I'm a boater, and I just know that the whole story sounds like. Right. So I don't believe that. But I just do want to mention that over on the shore at Lubbers that. That eastern shore of Lubbers there is extensive bull shark activity, and that comes from a homeowner who doesn't even swim off his own dock because. Because of that. One other thing I wanted to show you because it took a little research to figure this out. Many of you have probably seen Brian and Lynette on paddle boards on their social media, and they are paddling around Marsh Harbor. And of course, you would think, well, might he then have the lay of the land if he was paddling so close to shore, he would see things in advance. It's a very smart thinking pattern. But I want to dispel, because we've learned the actual location of where Brian and Lynette were paddleboarding, and it wasn't out on that eastern shore of Marsh harbor where he washed up. It was actually quite a ways away from it. So Brian and Lynette had purchased or were renting a mooring ball in the actual anchorage of Marsh Harbor. And that's a very protected harbor inside the island of Marsh Harbor. So it's kind of like on the northern part. It dips in as a big bay. And you can see, you know, the bay is curved, and all the sailboats, you know, hook up to mooring balls or throw their own anchor out. And they were renting a mooring ball, which means it's a permanent anchor. There's a ball floating. You just hook up to it, and you're. You're already anchored. Very little work. You don't have to set your hook. So they were renting a mooring ball, which also gave them the rights to be at the Conch Inn, which was on land, and they could avail of the services there, the pool and the bar and the restaurant and all the rest. And so when they got off their sailboat and we showed you the pictures, we. We circled around their boat. Soulmate, again, that name, Soulmate, given what we're dealing with. Right. They circled around. So I circled around Soulmate and showed you pictures in Marsh Harbor. They got those Paddle boards off Soulmate and they actually paddle boarded inside the harbor and they paddle boarded. If you're looking at your map up to the top of the horseshoe there, you can see just off to the, to the west side, there's some creeks and they were in there. I've gotten the local report that the images in the background of where Brian and Lynette were paddleboarding are indeed in those creeks inside that harbor, not way out and around on the eastern shore of Marsh Harbor. So anybody who thought, well, he may have been getting some ideas, you know, by checking out the eastern shore of Marsh harbor, that wasn't what they were doing with the paddle boarding. And it's just helpful sometimes to dispel these things because I know that sleuthing is a serious business and so many of the clues on social media will actually tell you very important things like

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N. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance. And now we're customizing this rush hour ad to keep you calm, which could help your driving. And science says therapy is great for a healthy mindset. So enjoy this 14 second session on us. I think you've done everything right and absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, anything that hasn't gone your way could probably be blamed on your father not being emotionally available because his father wasn't emotionally available and so on. And now that you're calm and healing, you're probably driving better, too.

[B]

Liberty, Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. What about that pink apple watch? Right? That's sleuthing. Seeing that photo and seeing that she's likely wearing that pink apple watch in her selfie pictures back at the Abaco Inn, that's sleuthing. But sometimes they're. They're a red herring or a dead end. And I just wanted to make sure that if you're watching, this one is a dead end. This paddle boarding was inside the harbor, so it wouldn't have given you any knowledge of that other shore on the outside of the harbor. So there you have it, folks. And if you subscribe thank you, I appreciate it. And if you like, I appreciate that too. And if you join the membership, thank you so much. And I'm going to do an exclusive Ask Me anything this Sunday at 5pm Eastern. What's the date on that? Let me look real quickly. It is Sunday the 26th. So Sunday, April 26th at 5pm Eastern. If you're in the membership, please log on. We actually have a lot of fun during these things. I think he was the last one in Vermont and there was wine and lasagna and all sorts of crazy stuff going on. But if you want to join, I would love to have you. And, and they asked me. Anything's fun because you can do that. You can ask me anything, especially about this case because I'm telling you, Lindsay and I have been on the ground in the Bahamas. We have been working the phones. I don't know if you saw my social media yesterday. I actually had to count at the end of the night how many messages I had actually processed yesterday through email, text messages, whatsapps and phone calls. And I actually got it wrong. There were more. When I woke up this morning, I realized I hadn't even processed the sent emails. Ended up being 1060 yesterday alone. That's a lot, a lot of communication. So when I say that Lindsay and I know a lot about this case and about this story, we do mean it. We really have been on it. So if you have any questions about this particular case of the Brian and Lynette hooker story or any other story or anything else. Lasagna, Chris, his cooking, his fashion, the elusive, what is he called? The Silver Fox. I think. Yeah, Sunday, 5pm we'd love to have you. And tomorrow on Drop Dead Serious we met some people who were at the Abaco Inn on Saturday night, April 4th. That's when Lynette was last seen. And that's when Brian and Lynette were visiting there, having a couple drinks before they got in their dinghy. Fateful dinghy ride untied and left the dock of the Abaco Inn. I've shown you that in other episodes when we were in the Bahamas, we took you down to that dock, we showed you where they would park the ladder, that they would scramble up and down to get to the dinghy. But the story that he gives is that around 7:30 they got into that dinghy at that dock, untied and set off. And only, you know, about six to ten minutes later, hell broke loose. Two to four foot waves. They weren't. Well, we're still confirming this, but the people that we've met who were there saw Brian and Lynette and have a pretty good description of what was going on. And they snapped a picture of the dinghy at the dock. Again, I'm confirming it all. I didn't want to come to you too soon with all that, but if you watch the episode tomorrow, that is what we're going to show you and talk about. Thank you so much for being here. I so appreciate you being here. If you're listening, if you're watching, you mean a lot. And don't forget, truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead seriously.