The United States Coast Guard Investigative Services (CGIS) released a video on Friday that shows the moment special agents seized the sailboat allegedly involved in the disappearance of Michigan mother Lynette Hooker.
NTD reached out to the Coast Guard, which declined to comment.
CGIS seized the boat–named Soulmate–about 40 nautical miles off Melbourne, Florida, on May 9.
In the body camera footage, investigators informed the two men that the boat was being seized. They appeared to have no knowledge of the case.
CGIS did not identify the two individuals and their faces were blurred out in the video.
The men told the special agents that they were moving the vessel to Fernandina Beach at the request of the boat’s owner. The men were also pressed on whether they intended to meet the owner at the beach, and they confirmed that no such meeting was planned.
"I don't think so, no,” one of them replied.
Brian Hooker, 59, told police that his wife fell overboard the night of April 4 as they were traveling in the 8-foot motorboat from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, a group of small islands on the eastern end of the Bahamas. He also said his wife had the boat’s keys, causing the boat’s engine to shut off and forcing him to paddle ashore. He also claimed that strong currents eventually carried the boat away and that he ultimately lost sight of his wife.
The couple have been married for more than 20 years and chronicled their sailing adventures around the Caribbean on social media.
Bahamas police arrested Brian Hooker a few days after the incident but later released him after prosecutors recommended against filing any charges against him. He denies any wrongdoing and vowed he would never stop looking for his wife.
The Coast Guard has opened an investigation separate from the probe being conducted by authorities in the Bahamas.
After the Hookers' vessel was seized, it experienced an engine failure and was towed by Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser, according to the agency. The tow was later handed off to personnel from Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for passage through Fort Pierce Inlet.
The vessel is currently in the custody of CGIS as part of an active criminal investigation.