Questions remain over whether the husband of missing American Lynette Hooker can actually leave the Bahamas after he was released from jail.
Brian Hooker, 59, was let go by the Bahamian authorities around 7.20 p.m. Monday after being holed up in custody for five days, probed over the disappearance of his wife of almost 25 years.
Cops confirmed he has been released pending further investigation, but it’s not clear if he can leave the Bahamas, according to his lawyer Terrel Butler.
She told Fox News Digital that she doesn’t know if he still has his passport, and when asked if Brian is free to leave the country, she said she needs to “discuss that further with him and the police.”
Butler confirmed that she and Brian are planning to meet Tuesday.
Bahamian authorities had to charge Brian by Monday night or release him, and she claimed she didn’t receive an update from the authorities after the cutoff point.
Blasting cops, Butler branded the ordeal “totally unacceptable and disrespectful.”
Cops released Brian after speaking with prosecutors and determined that no charges were to be filed at this time.
Further investigations were not ruled out and cops continue to appeal for tips.
Michigan mom Lynette, 55, supposedly fell overboard from the couple’s dinghy April 4 while trying to reach their yacht “Soulmate,” docked in Elbow Cay.
Brian claimed she fell into the water with the dinghy’s key, causing the engine to be shut off, and he paddled to shore, arriving at the Marsh Harbour boat yard the following morning at around 4 a.m.
When he arrived at the boat yard, he reportedly told security guard Edward Smith that his wife went overboard in the “rough weather.”
Hooker claimed he sent up two flares but two boats didn’t respond to his desperate pleas – when probed over why it took him so long to report his missing wife.
“I asked him, ‘So, where is the lady?’ He says, ‘She’s in the water,’” Smith told Fox News Digital, recounting the conversation with Brian.
Smith said Hooker appeared to be “exhausted” and was asking for water – and didn’t initially consider him suspicious when they met.
The guard called the cops, who arrived at around 5 a.m., and Brian was still speaking with them two hours later when the worker’s shift ended.
While Brian was in custody, cops searched Soulmate for cell phones and laptops as part of their probe.
The devices may be “material evidence and or contains material evidence related to a missing person causing bodily harm,” a police warrant, seen by CBS, said at the time.
Lynette’s body has not been found – and Brian said he was left “heartbroken” by her disappearance before he was taken into custody.
Her adult daughter, Karli Aylesworth, said she is heading to the Bahamas Wednesday along with her boyfriend, Steve Hansen.
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