Lynette Hooker’s disappearance in the Bahamas is being investigated as a possible homicide, an official said

The case of Lynette HookerA Michigan woman who went missing in the Bahamas in April is being investigated as “a possible homicide by a foreign national of an American male,” a U.S. official told CBS News.

The search for Hooker, 55, continues, as the 154-foot US Coast Guard cutter Margaret Norvell arrived in Marsh Harbor on Tuesday with a team of specialized divers. The US Coast Guard had been permission has been granted by the Bahamian government to send divers to explore areas that had not been searched the previous day, a source briefed on the investigation told CBS News on Thursday.

Divers will be looking for new evidence, including Hooker’s body, based on this GPS data collected from an electronic device. Investigators also went to the Abaco Inn, the last place Hooker was seen alive.

According to an American official familiar with the matter, the government has been investigating this case for weeks as the murder of a foreigner against a US man, and the status of the investigation has not changed. Although public statements have often described the matter as a “criminal investigation,” officials have been examining the case under a federal law that covers the killing of foreign nationals of American citizens.

No charges have been filed, and the official emphasized that the latest description of the actors should not be interpreted as a new development or a change in the investigation.

According to an official familiar with the investigation, new digital forensic evidence appears to undermine Brian Hooker’s account of his wife’s disappearance. Brian Hooker told authorities that he and Lynette Hooker were on their way back to their boat, the Soulmate, when rough water knocked him overboard and left him adrift for several hours. Lynette Hooker was last seen near Aunt Pat’s Bay, near Elbow Cay and Hope Town, Brian Hooker told local authorities.

A US official previously told CBS News that GPS data from one of Brian Hooker’s devices showed movements that did not match what he had told investigators. Details show the machine was out of the water, stopping in the Sea of ​​Abaco before returning, the official said, giving investigators a more precise area to search.

Brian Hooker he was arrested about the disappearance of Lynette Hooker a few days later, but was released again they are allowed to return in the US He has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. H

“The story didn’t make sense to me,” Troy Pritchard, a member of the original search team, told CBS News. “But with the continuation of the information we had, we had to do everything we could to search for what we were told in the initial interviews with the police.”

Baine and Marnee Stevenson, friends of Lynette Hooker, told CBS News they hope the new evidence helps solve the case.

“I hope this is a step in the right direction for justice for Lynette,” said Marnee Stevenson.

“I have faith that by following their GPS coordinates, they’re going to find something,” Blaine Stevenson said.