A Michigan woman who recently disappeared in the Bahamas after apparently going overboard on a dinghy is an experienced boater, her daughter said while calling for a detailed probe into the incident.
“It does seem suspicious,” Karli Aylesworth told The Detroit News on Tuesday. “I just hope they do a thorough investigation.”
Police on the island of Abaco launched the investigation after 56-year-old Lynette Hooker went missing at sea on Saturday while traveling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay, Bahamian officials said.
According to a preliminary investigation, a man reported to the Royal Bahamas Police Force that he and his wife departed from Hope Town at about 7:30 p.m. aboard an 8-foot dinghy for Elbow Cay, officials said in a news release.
Police said the man told officers his wife had gone overboard with the boat keys, causing the vessel’s engine to shut off. He reported that strong currents carried her away, and he lost sight of her, investigators said.
The man told detectives that he paddled the dinghy to shore.
Officials said the man arrived at the Marsh Harbour Boat Yard in the Bahamas at about 4 a.m. Sunday. He informed a person at the boat yard, and that individual alerted the police, according to authorities.
Aylseworth said her mother and stepfather, 58-year-old Brian Hooker, both of Onstead in Lenawee County, are avid travelers who had been in the Bahamas for about a month.
“It’s just hard to believe that she would just fall overboard,” said Aylseworth, 28, of Grand Rapids. “I just hope they find her so we can know exactly what happened.”
While in the Caribbean, the couple had been living on their boat, Aylseworth said. They had been married for about 25 years, she said.
She said the last news she got regarding the investigation was that authorities had located a floatation device that had been thrown to her mother when she went overboard.
“If anyone knows anything, let me know,” said Aylseworth. “Otherwise, support for our family now would be nice.”
cramirez@detroitnews.com
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan woman missing after going overboard in Bahamas: Officials
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez and Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
