Fox News correspondent Dana Marie McNicholl joins 'Fox News Live' with updates on the renewed search for Lynette Hooker. Criminal defense attorney Donna Rotunno provides legal expertise.

MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas — The disappearance of American woman Lynette Hooker in the Bahamas is being investigated as a murder, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital.

Hooker vanished in April while boating in Elbow Cay in the Bahamas with her husband, Brian Hooker. Her husband has maintained that his wife fell from a dinghy at night and was swept away. 

But investigators are treating the case as a homicide, the official said, as they review digital evidence, location data and the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, which was recently seized by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.

LYNETTE HOOKER MISSING IN BAHAMAS: TIMELINE OF MICHIGAN WOMAN’S DISAPPEARANCE, HUSBAND’S ARREST

Brian and Lynette Hooker sit on a dinghy in the water in this undated image. (Brian Hooker/Facebook)

AMERICAN WOMAN MISSING AFTER HUSBAND SAYS SHE FELL OVERBOARD, SWEPT TO SEA DURING BAHAMAS BOAT TRIP: POLICE

Once authorities seized the boat as it left the Bahamas, the U.S. Coast Guard docked Soulmate in Fort Pierce, Florida. Eventually, officials relocated the boat to a port in Fort Lauderdale.

A U.S. official familiar with the investigation previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that, once pulled from the water, Soulmate would be taken to a warehouse to be combed for clues.

"Any sort of digital devices that you can take, any computer systems that you can extract, anything of that sort, will be taken in," said Nicole Parker, former FBI special agent and Fox News contributor.

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Brian Hooker leaves Central Police Station after being released from custody, Freeport, the Bahamas, Monday, April 13, 2026. Hooker, who is accompanied by his lawyer, Terrel A. Butler, was being questioned over the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, who he says fell overboard from their dinghy earlier this month. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

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Brian Hooker was initially detained, then released from Bahamian custody when Lynette was reported missing.

Brian Hooker has not been charged with any crime or accused of wrongdoing. His attorney could not be reached for comment after numerous attempts from Fox News Digital.

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