Bahamas
Woman Missing After Falling Overboard …
Husband Paddled Boat Back to Shore
Published
An American woman is missing in the Bahamas after she allegedly went overboard during a boat trip in the sea Saturday, according to her husband … and authorities are now searching for her body.
Multiple outlets have identified the woman as 55-year-old Michigan resident Lynette Hooker.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force reported the couple left Hope Town on Abaco around 7:30 PM on Saturday in an 8-foot dinghy, motoring toward Elbow Cay, when she fell overboard. They were on their way back to their yacht when rough seas bounced her out of the dinghy, according to CNN. She wore a lanyard with the boat’s keys on her, and the dinghy lost power when she went into the water.
Lynette’s 58-year-old husband, Brian, told authorities that he lost sight of his wife when the current swept her away … and he had to paddle the dinghy to shore. Lynette was reportedly not a wearing a flotation device.
Police said it was 4 AM Sunday when Lynette’s husband reached Marsh Harbour Boat Yard on Grand Abaco Island … and police were called. The island is about an hour’s flight due east from Miami, Florida.
Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue team lead Richard Cook told NBC News the search effort is now a recovery operation, meaning she’s likely to have drowned.
