Coast Guard Seizes Brian Hooker's Sailboat in Probe of Wife's Bahamas Disappearance

The Coast Guard has released new pictures of its seizure of Brian Hooker's sailboat amid an ongoing criminal investigation into his wife's disappearance.

Coast Guard Investigative Service agents took the sailboat Soulmate, owned by Brian and Lynette Hooker, 40 nautical miles off Melbourne, Florida, according to a news release. A source told Fox News Digital the seizure occurred between May 8 and 10.

Lynette Hooker fell from a dinghy after the couple left shore at Hope Town in the Bahamas around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, her husband told authorities. Brian Hooker said rough waters caused her to fall overboard. He paddled to shore and reached Marsh Harbour around 4 a.m. on April 5.

The couple was returning to Soulmate, their full-time home in retirement, when the incident happened. They often sailed around the U.S. and Caribbean, their social media pages show.

Brian Hooker has not been charged with any crime.

The Coast Guard described the seizure as part of a complex surveillance and interdiction operation. Investigators took Soulmate to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for evidence processing.

"The vessel Soulmate is currently in the custody of CGIS as part of an active criminal investigation," the Coast Guard said.

Fox News Digital photos from Tuesday show the sailboat taped off at the Fort Pierce station.

The seizure came about a week after the Coast Guard asked the public to help identify the owner of a sailboat moored near the Hookers' vessel in the Bahamas.

Brian Hooker left the island for the U.S. to care for his ill mother, his Bahamian attorney said.

His Michigan-based attorney, Crystal Marie Hauser, urged the public to give him the benefit of the doubt in an ABC News interview.

"I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways," Hauser said.