The husband of missing boater Lynette Hooker has been released from police custody in connection with her disappearance off a boat in the Bahamas — as horrifying photos of the Michigan mom’s alleged abuse emerged, according to authorities and reports.
Brian Hooker, 59, was released as the Monday evening deadline loomed for police to decide how to proceed with the case after his arrest last Wednesday, his attorney, Terrel Butler, told NBC News.
He did not respond to reporters’ questions as he left Grand Bahama’s central police station — with Butler explaining that her client has been “very emotional” and said he needed to “destress from this horrible experience,” the outlet reported.
Hooker has been in custody since Wednesday, just days after claiming his wife of nearly 25 years had tumbled from an 8-foot hard dinghy en route to their yacht in Elbow Cay.
Police said an initial investigation revealed that Lynette, 55, was swept away by currents after falling into the sea from the dinghy she was in with Brian while trying to reach their yacht, the Soulmate.
During the couple’s excursion from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, Lynette reportedly tumbled overboard with the boat’s keys — causing the vessel’s engine to shut off, police said.
Brian told cops he lost sight of his wife in the rough surf and paddled the small boat back to shore, eventually arriving at Marsh Harbour Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday.
His arrest comes as Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield that her daughter left her husband multiple times after several instances of alleged abuse — including one instance that left her with visible bruising on her back.
“With the lifestyle that my daughter and her husband live, I had been preparing for that phone call for a long time,” Hamlett told Banfield on her show “Drop Dead Serious” of the moment she learned her daughter was missing.
“There was a lot of good times and bad times in my daughter’s relationship with her husband. A lot of highs and a lot of lows. When it was fun, it was really fun, and when there were bad times, they were bad times,” the heartbroken mother said.
“I think they loved each other, but they were not good for each other,” she said, noting Brian tended to be “mean” and “hateful” and sometimes got physical with her daughter when he drank alcohol.
Lynette often took photos documenting her abuse, reminding her “not to go back” to Brian, despite typically returning to him. Hamlett added that she consulted battered women’s shelters for advice on how to get the couple to separate.
She had even booked a plane ticket a month ago to go home to her mother after indicating that Brian’s abuse was accelerating, Hamlett claimed.
Brian has been subject to who is being treated as a suspect, was “pretty upset, emotional,” and broke down during the interview, which left him “in an extremely fragile state.”
Brian Hooker’s attorney and the Royal Bahamas Police Force did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
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