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Stitch Fix. Stop shopping. Get styled a plus on the outfit. Ms. Turner, you are about to slay parent teacher conferences.
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Oh, these just the most perfect fitting jeans my stylist sent me.
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Oh, hello, you who didn't set one foot in a mall and still looks amazing.
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Just share your size, style and budget and your stylist sends personalized looks right to your door. Stitch Fix, get started today@stitch fix.com to my stylist, this look is dedicated to you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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A somber Mother's Day for the family of Lynette Hooker, the Michigan mom who's been missing for more than five weeks now in the Bahamas.
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B
It's the first Mother's Day without my mom. It's pretty hard right now to know that she's not a text away anymore
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C
as Ryan Hooker remains mia. Is the couple's sailboat soulmate now a
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B
crime scene time is not on the side of the victim, of course, because we still are hopeful as a criminality, I always want to maintain hope that we can identify, locate the victim. But this whole idea about searching this boat, seeing if there's any evidence that may align Brian Hooker with any involvement, that is key.
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What evidence, if any, on that boat could break the case and bring Lynette
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home if there are any types of reporting. So it's going to be very interesting. And we got to stay tuned to this.
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I'm Lyndon Blake and you're listening to that's so Criminal.
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That's so Criminal.
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We have all been wanting an update in the case of missing Michigan mom Lynette Hooker. And on Mother's Day, we got it. We now know that the sailboat soulmate that she shared with her husband of 25 years, Brian Hooker, has been taken into custody by the U.S. coast Guard. And this was in dramatic fashion, by the way. This was not just let's come get the boat from the Bahamas and take it back. No. Carly Ellsworth, Lynette's daughter, said that Brian had two guys go get the sailboat. They were trying to take it to a place she believes in Florida. Doesn't really know. Hasn't talked to Brian much since her mom went missing now more than five weeks ago. But Carly said that the two men got Soulmate from its anchor spot just outside of the Conch Inn in the Bahamas, where it has been this entire time since Lynette Hooker allegedly fell off that dinghy. And the boat was on its way back, like I mentioned, to the United States when the Coast Guard out of nowhere intercepts the sailboat and takes it to their criminal investigations unit in Fort Pierce, Florid. That's a town just a little south of Vero Beach, Florida. And that is where that boat is today. That is good news because now you have the sailboat NUS custody. An investigation is going to ensue to figure out what clues are on that boat that can lead to missing mom, Lynette Hooker. I spoke with Dr. Debbie Goodman. She's a criminologist, professor, author. She has been following the Lynette Hooker case closely, like much of us have been. This story that Brian Hooker has said where his wife, who was an avid active swimmer, just bounced off a dinghy in this safe harbor in the Bahamas where there was really no waves, no crazy riptide, and half the place in that harbor she could touch. It doesn't make sense. So we have just been racking our brain what happened to Lynette Hooker? The Coast Guard, they're involved now physically with the boat, but they've had a criminal investigation opened into this case of Lynette Hooker since the beginning. But Dr. Debbie Goodman gave me some insight on what happens now. Now that the United States has this sailboat with them, a thorough examination is about to take place from head to toe of this boat. And Dr. Goodman says now the Coast Guard is going to do a rule in rule out game with Brian Hooker.
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B
Well, the investigators will do from 0 to 60 A to Z every inch of that boat. And if there is nothing, then again, Brian Hooker is no longer under any cloud of suspicion. But remember, here's what we know about criminal investigation 101. This is very common what's happening, by the way. This is not necessarily that irregular and unusual. Why? Because here's what we know about criminal investigations. There's a ruling out and a ruling in. So Brian Hooker has been ruled out, let's say potentially by the Bahamian officials. Now, with the Coast Guard having a look at this and doing their due diligence, they may rule him back in depending upon what they find. But again, Lyndon, we have to go with the premise of innocent until proven guilty. We can't just, you know, cast the the doubt on people where there's no evidence. So our criminal justice system, we would have to have some type of evidence for him to be rearrested and then potentially charged. So recall, as you know, he was only arrested. An arrest doesn't mean that there was a charge. There were no charges.
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C
So what will we find on the boat? Well, a good thing to find on the boat would be what lynette was wearing the day she allegedly fell off the dinghy. Remember, Ashley Banfield would drop dead serious. Got those images of Lynette and this blue cover up shot on some type of fanny pack. There was a blue headscarf that she was wearing. So if any of those items are found on the bo, wouldn't that mean that potentially they made it back to the boat and Lynette didn't fall off the dinghy on the way back to the sailboat on that Saturday evening? That's something to look into. Dr. Goodman said investigators will be searching every inch of this 46 foot sailboat for clues.
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B
So with any potential homicide, we don't have it yet, but that's in my eyes as a criminologist, what the Coast Guard is moving toward. They are thinking potentially that this could be a homicide. So what would be some of the evidentiary items that may align Ryan Hooker? Well, certainly any type of DNA. So prints, hair, any fibers, any blood, urine, semen, all of this would be tested. That's category one, let's call it. Next potential would be any type of tape recorded communication between Lynette and Brian Booker. Now clearly we would have to believe that this has been reviewed and investigated by Bahamian officers in terms of cell phone data, computer, other digital evidence. But the however, and this is what I find very curious, we may still have some of these evidentiary items, Lyndon on the boat, if there are any types of reporting. So it's going to be very interesting and we got to stay tuned to this.
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C
It's been sitting the boat and the harbor down in front of the Conkin in the Bahamas. This entire time the dinghy has been in custody of the Royal Bahamian police. Why do you think I know this is speculation, but that authorities in the Bahamas didn't look too much into the boat while it was down there anchored in the bay.
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B
So we have to go with at the moment what Brian Hooker told investigators and what he told them was the dinghy was the primary, let's say, location of what might be a crime scene. And so as the story goes, and I'm using the word story because I'm not even sure Lyndon, I believe the whole chronological sequencing of events and I'll tell you why. But if we believe the story of this dinghy and April 4th and you know, out in the seas that were allegedly with high winds, rough seas, I don't even know if that had been verified by meteorologists and other types of weather reporting. And so whatever the search was, it was literally supposedly at or near the dinghy, which. Where's Brian Hooker? He supposedly swam back. Right. So all of that to me is just almost unlikely, believe it or not, because Lyndon, this crime, if it is a crime, it's called exorcide. And your viewers will be very familiar with this, as will you. Why? Because xorcide is literally the category of crime whereby a husband kills a wife. Now, we have very high profile cases that you're aware of that I've discussed with the media. To include Scott Peterson and the death of Lacey, to include Chris Watts, the death of Shannon, to include Alex Murdoch, the death of Maggie. And so these numbers are very high. You know, I check data every day as a criminologist and right before we spoke, the 2025 data had an estimated 2,000 cases of this. We don't even call it intimate partner violence. We call it intimate partner homicide. And it's on the rise. And so although as we speak, there is no crime that Brian Hooker has been charged with, but to me it's really a very big question mark if any of this even on the seas occurred.
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So you're saying that it could be a scenario and the Coast Guard has had a criminal investigation opened into Lynette Hookerson's the beginning, pretty much. But that the dinghy that was taken into custody could be a curveball from Brian to get the eyes off soulmate, the sailboat.
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Yes. I'm just tossing it out there as another potential issue because let us keep in mind, if we are talking about a killer, we're not putting that title on anybody at the moment. But if we are talking about somebody who kills Lyndon, and this is what I do for a living, I look at all categories of murders from a first degree to second to manslaughter, school based violence, intimate partner workplace and such, mass shootings, serial shootings. But at the moment no crime. But sometimes people don't tell the truth. Right. And I'm just not 100% convinced that this is actually the chronological sequencing of events that has occurred with this case.
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C
Now it has been more than five weeks since this boat has just been sitting out there at sea and all the elements. So again, if there is foul play, which Coast Guard has not closed their criminal investigation into Lynette's disappearance, it is still an open investigation. So they're looking for stuff. If there is foul play, evidence on the boat could be contaminated or it could simply be non existent because it was discarded. But Dr. Goodman has made it clear that closure can come. In the case of Lynette Hooker, no matter what your friends are saying, no matter what anyone's saying, that this will never be solved, she says, do not give up.
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B
So for me, right now, where we are at this moment, what would crack this case literally would be digital evidence. Any kind of, even surveillance footage, anywhere that may show a push, a shove, any type of actual physical. That's one or two. If there was any type of recording on the boat, soulmate of them even having any type of verbal interaction. But you make a very good point as well. Why? Because we have zero witness on this one. We, we. What do we have? We have black sea. If the story went as. As Brian Hooker suggests. So who within the sea, unless there was another boater that maybe saw something, said something, we. We don't believe. So and so it's either in my eyes, Lyndon, it's, it's the perfect crime, or you've really got nobody to see anything or say anything, or we completely believe him. And he is a distraught husband whose wife is missing at sea for more than 30 days and he had nothing to do with it.
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C
A lot of people are saying this case will never be solved if there's foul play. Or Lynette will never be found if there is foul play involved in this. As a criminologist, can this case be solved?
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100%. 100%. I really, you know, Lyndon, I believe in the acronym I like to use in a lot of these media conversations. Hope, hold on, pain ends. And so when we look at other cases that have seemed so astonishing with people gone missing, see, remember at the moment we have to say that Lynette is missing. There is no verification, again, no evidence that she has passed. But we have had other high profile abductions that I'm sure you have covered on the program to include Elizabeth Smart, to include Jamie Clouse, to include Amber Berry. And so I was involved in those cases speaking to the media, and even at the times they were going on, well, Dr. Debbie, do you think it'll be solved? Do you think they're okay? I said the same thing that I'm saying to you, Lyndon, that until we really have proof that one has passed, and I'm all about evidence, we have to maintain hope. And that's where I stand right now.
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Now, remember back at the beginning, Carly, who is Lynette's biological daughter, she just wanted an investigation. That's all she was asking for. Can someone look into this? I don't think this story is as black and white as it seems. Well, now she's getting it it is odd behavior. Like I mentioned that Brian has not been seen in the Bahamas. People are saying, thought he'd come back, hasn't come back, don't think he's gonna come back. But it could just be because he wants to be home with his family, his close circle. I don't know why, though, he's not talking to Carly. That is odd to me. Suspicious, just not normal behavior. You have a stepdaughter who you've known pretty much her whole entire life suffering right now, and he's just being mia. Carly, you know, has brought up their violent history. Maybe Brian is like, why are you talking? But she just wants justice to be served for her missing mother. So if there is foul play, if there is something more to this story, here's what Dr. Goodman sees as a possibility from the viewpoint of a criminologist.
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Well, I think that there's potential for two crimes, let's say, the first of which, depending upon what the Coast Guard would find. Could it be first degree murder? It could be. What would that speak to? That would speak to four elements. That would mean that there is proof that it was planned, premeditated, willful and with malice. That's option one, I think. Option two, potentially and interestingly, Carly kind of spoke to this. And that's why I'm going to say what I'm about to say, that when the parents did ingest alcohol, that there would be a little more, you know, level of potentially even verbal. And as we know, verbal could also lead to physical. So if that's the case, then it could be a second degree murder case, which would be more actually heat of passion. You see, if it can be proven, if it can be documented. There was drinking. A verbal altercation ensued, which then led to potentially stimulated physical. It may have been accidental, not planned, but more heat of passion. That would be second degree. And then the obvious is the third option. He's an innocent man. He had nothing to do with the disappearance of his wife. He's distraught. He's now a widower. And we'll see. We'll stay tuned very closely.
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Carly is now made These justice for Lynette shirts, they're on the GoFundMe. They're these shirts with a sailboat. They're really pretty. She says that money will be used for her to go back to the Bahamas to help get answers in the case for missing mother. So you can go to Lynette Hooker's GoFundMe, where Carly is still raising money. And there's a link there for the shirts. This story is heating up. The investigation is heating up now that soulmate, the sailboat, is in Coast Guard custody. We're going to stay on this all week. I'll bring in more experts, and if anything breaks you, you will hear about it here on that so Criminal. Thanks so much for following this investigation along with us. I'm Lyndon Blake, and you've been listening to that's so Criminal.
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That's so Criminal.