Coast Guard opens criminal investigation into American woman’s disappearance in Bahamas

The U.S. Coast Guard has opened a criminal investigation into the disappearance of an American woman whose husband said she fell from a boat in the Bahamas, a military branch official said Wednesday.

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The official declined to comment further on the disappearance of Lynette Hooker, 55, over the weekend.

Brian Hooker said his wife fell into the water Saturday evening in rough seas while out on a canoe trip near Elbow Cay.

Local authorities said Tuesday that efforts to find her were a “recovery operation.”

“Despite desperate attempts to reach it, the winds and currents kept us away from each other,” Brian Hooker said on Facebook on Wednesday. “We continue to search for her and that is my only goal.”

Lynette Hooker’s daughter Karli Aylesworth questioned this account, saying it seemed unlikely she would “fall” overboard.