U.S. Coast Guard now has boat of husband of woman who disappeared in Bahamas

The US Coast Guard has taken possession of the sailboat belonging to the American whose wife disappeared in the Bahamas last month, an official said Monday.

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The Coast Guard station manager at Fort Pierce, Fla., referred additional questions about the Soulmate to the military branch office in Miami, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.

Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hooker could not be reached for comment.

Hooker told Bahamian authorities that his wife, Lynette Hooker, was missing after falling from the couple’s canoe on the evening of April 4 while they were traveling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay.

In a phone call to a friend, he said they weren’t wearing a life jacket and she “just bounced around on the dinghy” in 20 mph winds. She fell overboard with the engine key, forcing him to paddle, he said.

Local authorities arrested Brian Hooker in connection with his disappearance on April 8, the day a U.S. Coast Guard official said the branch had opened a criminal investigation.

Hooker was released five days later without charges.

“I never hurt Lynette, and I would never hurt Lynette, and I want Lynette back,” he later told NBC News.

He returned to the United States soon after to help his ailing mother. Lynette Hooker has not been found.

It is unclear when the Coast Guard took possession of the Soulmate or whether the development is linked to the criminal investigation.