Friend says Brian Hooker stayed on sailboat 24 hours after wife vanished in Bahamas

Brian Hooker told authorities that his wife Lynette fell from their dinghy into rough waters near Hope Town in the Bahamas around 7:30 p.m. on April 4. He paddled to shore and reached Marsh Harbour at about 4 a.m. on April 5.

The couple was returning to their sailboat, Soulmate, which served as their full-time home in retirement. They often sailed around the United States and the Caribbean.

Blaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker, told Fox News Digital that after spending three to four hours searching with rescue officials on April 5, Brian returned to the sailboat and stayed there for roughly 24 hours.

"So the incident happened Saturday at 7:30 p.m. He came ashore at 4 a.m., the search and rescue took him out for three or four hours and brought him back to his boat. He sat on his boat for almost 24 hours until search and rescue brought him his dinghy back," Stevenson said.

Stevenson added that Brian Hooker gave no further details during that time. "At no point did he really look at the situation and give anybody any more details than he had at the beginning when supposedly he was in shock," he said.

Brian Hooker stayed at the Conch Inn in Marsh Harbour on April 6 and remained there until Bahamian authorities arrested him on April 8. He was released from jail on April 13 without charges.

Stevenson said he was surprised Brian Hooker did not search more extensively for his wife. "Even if he accepts the fact that his wife is gone — does he not want closure? Does he not want redemption?" he said.

Between May 8 and 10, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the sailboat Soulmate about 40 nautical miles off Melbourne, Florida, as part of a criminal investigation. The vessel was taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for processing.

Brian Hooker's Michigan attorney, Crystal Marie Hauser, asked the public to give him the benefit of the doubt. "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," she said.