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BAHAMAS OVERBOARD: SEARCH FOR MICHIGAN MOM LYNETTE HOOKER · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: A gorgeous young Michigan mother, Lynette Hooker falls overboard in
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: the Bahamas, according to her husband, who managed to paddle
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: ashore to safety. Tonight, the search for Lynette underway. Good evening.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. I want to
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: thank you for being with us.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Lynette Hooker, a mom from Michigan, spend her days sailing
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: the open seas with her husband aboard their yacht. What
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: was meant to be a relaxing trip to the Bahamas
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: quickly turns into a fight for survival.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: This gorgeous young mom, Lynette Hooker falls overboard on a
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: romantic trip to the Bahamas with her husband.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: How do we know that?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: That's what her husband says straight out to Melissa Andrews,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: joining US Crime and investigative anchor WTL eleven. Thank you
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: for being with us. What happened?
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: So?
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  Speaker 5: Brian and Lynette were out to dinner on Saturday night
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  Speaker 5: and they had used this dinghy boat, this eight foot
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: dinghy to leave the yacht to go to that dinner.
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: Brian said that on the way back from dinner to
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: the yacht on the dinghy that they experienced some rough
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  Speaker 5: weather and that, as we established, Lynette was wearing this
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: key to the dinghy and she fell off the boat.
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: He said when she did that, he was unable to
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  Speaker 5: reach her, so he spent several hours paddling this dinghy
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  Speaker 5: back to shore, where he then reported her missing to
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: the local police around four o'clock on Sunday morning. So,
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: after Lynette was reported missing, we're told by Bahamian police
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: that they immediately began to search for her in the
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: air and in the water, and spent about six hours
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: looking for her on Sunday and they were not able
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  Speaker 5: to find her in the water or anywhere else.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So the search goes on for missing mom, Lynette Hooker,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: who falls overboard on the trip to the Muhamas. This
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: is what her daughter says.
• 2:11
  Speaker 6: For one, I don't understand how she got the key.
• 2:14
  Speaker 6: Brian's always driving, so he basically is in charge of
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: the key, So the fact that my mom had it
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: doesn't make any sense. It just doesn't add up why
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: she was swimming away from the boat or why she
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: had the keys have known passed. Issues between them have
• 2:32
  Speaker 6: not been good from what I've heard from my grandma,
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: their relationship has been a lot of fighting and drinking lately.
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: So I'm just kind of questioning what actually went out
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  Speaker 6: in the dinghy.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Carly Ailesworth speaking out that from our friends at CBS,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: NBC and thirteen on your Side, straight out to Sidney
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Silvanni joining US Crime Stories investigative reporter.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: The search is ongoing.
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  Speaker 2: But I hear what Melissa Andrews is saying, but I
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: want to break it down bit by bit what we
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: know about the timeline. Start at the beginning.
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  Speaker 4: Sydney the Hookers, We're eating dinner in Hopetown and this
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  Speaker 4: is a small island and a group of islands in
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: the Bahamas. So their dingy is located in Hopetown in
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: their yacht. The Soulmate is moored in Elbow K about
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  Speaker 4: two and a half miles away. So the couple finishes dinner,
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: it's about seven point thirty. They hop and they're eight
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  Speaker 4: foot motorized dinghi and they are heading back to the
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  Speaker 4: Soulmate to turn in for the night in Elbow K,
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: now somewhere between Hopetown and Elbow K. Brian Hooker claims
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: Lynette went overboard with the kill switch lanyard and this.
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  Speaker 2: Old Doc White said, I want to establish what I
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: want to establish something you just said. They have left
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: the restaurant. They were on the dinghey, not a yacht,
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  Speaker 2: on the dinghy that is attached to the yacht, and
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  Speaker 2: they were heading back to where they were studying for
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: the evening.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so they sleep on the boat. They live on
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  Speaker 4: their yacht, the Soulmate, So they used the dinghy to
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  Speaker 4: get around short distances from where they more the yacht,
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  Speaker 4: so they frequently run to do laundry or run to
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  Speaker 4: do groceries from the mainland, leaving the yacht moored in
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  Speaker 4: a larger bay.
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  Speaker 2: Can anyone at the restaurant establish what the husband is
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  Speaker 2: now saying? Has that been confirmed? They did go to
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  Speaker 2: the restaurant, They did have dinner. They did get onto
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  Speaker 2: the dinghy. That had to be observed from the pier
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  Speaker 2: the boat ramp.
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  Speaker 1: It takes a.
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  Speaker 2: While to you know, unhook untie the dinghy, get on
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  Speaker 2: the dinghy from the pier and then take off. The
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  Speaker 2: dinghy is motorized, They're not having to row. Can that
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  Speaker 2: be confirmed? I guarantee you, Sidney that there are security
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  Speaker 2: cams along that peer to guard boats that are in
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  Speaker 2: the marina. So can we confirm they really went to dinner.
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  Speaker 4: All of those details are extremely fuzzy. Carly herself is
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: having a hard time getting any answers from Bahamian police,
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  Speaker 4: and these are all details that we just don't know yet.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so still trying to establish that they were at dinner.
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  Speaker 2: So let's suspend any disbelief and go with the theory.
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  Speaker 2: They went to a restaurant, then they left. Okay, Sydney,
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  Speaker 2: the time the time they leave the restaurant is that
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  Speaker 2: in the timeline.
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  Speaker 4: At seven thirty pm on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, they leave the restaurant, they go to the pier,
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  Speaker 2: they get in the dinghy, and then they take off.
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  Speaker 2: I know this is dissecting it into very small bits
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  Speaker 2: of time, But Randy Kessler, veteran trial lawyer joining us,
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  Speaker 2: isn't that what you do when you're trying to establish
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  Speaker 2: a timeline.
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  Speaker 7: Yes, that's what you try to do when you're prosecuting
• 6:14
  Speaker 7: a case, is you establish a timeline trying to lead
• 6:16
  Speaker 7: towards guilt. I try to establish a timeline that contradicts that. Nancy.
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  Speaker 7: There's so many alternative potential explanations for this situation that
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  Speaker 7: I cannot imagine they're going to get a successful prosecution.
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  Speaker 7: I just don't understand. This is all innuendo, all circumstantial. All, well,
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  Speaker 7: he usually drives, there's no eye witness to who was
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  Speaker 7: driving that night. Well, he's had some issues in the past.
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  Speaker 7: There's no evidence whatsoever that he did anything wrong this
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  Speaker 7: time around. Well he would have seen her, you know,
• 6:47
  Speaker 7: over the boat. Well it was dark and maybe he
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  Speaker 7: didn't see her. I mean, you can't convict somebody on
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: all of this potential innuendo and timeline. So yes, you
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  Speaker 7: do try to establish a timeline that's not conviction worthy.
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  Speaker 2: In my opinion, methinks thou dost protest too much. In
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: the immortal words of the Bard, nobody asked you to
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  Speaker 2: leap forward to a jury trial. I just asked you
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  Speaker 2: if you have to go minute by minute establishing a timeline.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my, that was telling.
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  Speaker 8: I do try to get ahead of the game.
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  Speaker 1: I say, how do you established a timeline? You go,
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  Speaker 1: he didn't do.
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  Speaker 7: It, Nancy. We've been together a long time. I know
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  Speaker 7: where you're head and I just don't want you to
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  Speaker 7: get there.
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  Speaker 2: So establishing a timeline repeat at the risk of repeating myself.
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  Speaker 2: You have to parse minute by minute to create a timeline. Yes, no,
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  Speaker 2: maybe I should stick with cross examination questions with you,
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  Speaker 2: Randy Kessler.
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  Speaker 7: Yes, no, yes, but I do have the opportunity to
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  Speaker 7: explain my answer and cross examination, and the explanation would
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  Speaker 7: be yes, I want you to put together timeline, but
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  Speaker 7: every minute of that gives me a chance to undo
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  Speaker 7: it or to find a hole in it or pick
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  Speaker 7: it apart.
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  Speaker 8: Yeah, you need a timeline, and it better be airtight.
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  Speaker 1: Guys, seven thirty pm, Saturday night.
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  Speaker 2: The husband says, they leave the restaurant there at the
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: end to head back across the body of water to
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: get to their yacht where their live aboard. Now we're
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  Speaker 2: also learning to Melissa Andrews joining us WTL eleven. The
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: husband says, she was not wearing a PFD personal flotation device.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right, and I think that's really nancy. Why
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  Speaker 5: a lot of people are questioning historian have questioned his
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  Speaker 5: story because why would she not be wearing a personal
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  Speaker 5: flotation device or a life vest out in the open ocean,
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  Speaker 5: especially when Brian said at the time those waters were rough.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I wouldn't get into a dinghy at night
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  Speaker 2: on rough water without a flotation device, without a safety vest.
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  Speaker 2: A life myself much less. I wouldn't let my husband
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  Speaker 2: do it even if he wanted to, or my children.
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  Speaker 2: So if she didn't have on a live fest, why
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  Speaker 2: didn't he insist? I'm just very curious because Melissa Andrews,
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  Speaker 2: they were both veteran voters. They have boted, they have
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  Speaker 2: dived all over the world, and you know you have
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  Speaker 2: to wear your life vest when you're out on the
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  Speaker 2: open ceita.
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  Speaker 7: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: Absolutely, and maybe the argument could be made that they
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  Speaker 5: were so experienced that they felt they didn't need to
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  Speaker 5: wear those. I mean, part of Brian's story is that
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  Speaker 5: he did throw her some sort of flotation device that
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  Speaker 5: ended up coming to the cerfix later.
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  Speaker 2: Hopetown Fire and Rescue still searching for Lynette. What more
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: do we know, Sidney Silvanni joining us from crime stories
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: about what the husband says happened that night.
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  Speaker 4: Well. From there, after Lynette goes overboard, Allegedly, Brian claims
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  Speaker 4: that she was quickly swept out of his sight. He
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  Speaker 4: couldn't even tell if she received the flotation device he
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: tried to throw to her. From there, he claims he's
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: now stuck in this dead dinghy and the currents. He's
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: trying to fight the wind. He's trying to make it
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  Speaker 4: back to shore where he last saw Lynette swimming. But
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  Speaker 4: Hooker washes all the way across to Marsh Harbor, and
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  Speaker 4: that's across what they call the Sea of Abaco or
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: the Ebaco Sound. So Hooker is stuck in the water
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  Speaker 4: for a very very long time, and he doesn't beach
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  Speaker 4: until nearly four a m.
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  Speaker 2: Sunday morning, So from seven point thirty pm to four
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  Speaker 2: a m. He is paddling to safety.
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  Speaker 4: Is that right, That's what he claims. So Lynette is
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  Speaker 4: not reported missing for hours.
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  Speaker 2: So how long did it take him? Brian Hooker, the husband,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: to contact Lynette's daughter.
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  Speaker 4: It takes Hooker almost twenty four hours to reach out
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  Speaker 4: to Lynnette's daughter and let her know what's going on.
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  Speaker 4: And according to Carly, he was cool as a cucumber
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  Speaker 4: on that phone call.
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  Speaker 2: Cool as a cucumber on the phone call. Karen Start
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: joining us a renowned TV radio trauma expert, psychologist, forensic
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: psychologist and consultant. Karen Start cool as a cucumber. He
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: had twenty four hours to get calm down.
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  Speaker 9: Nancy. There's a lot of suspicion here. He was cool
• 11:39
  Speaker 9: as a cucumber. And I also learned that he had
• 11:43
  Speaker 9: written on social media, so think about your wife is missing.
• 11:49
  Speaker 9: He referred to her in the past tense and instead
• 11:53
  Speaker 9: of collapsing, he's composing something for social media that makes
• 11:57
  Speaker 9: him look good about how he's heartbroken. I mean, in
• 12:02
  Speaker 9: the middle of all of this chaos and horrible news,
• 12:06
  Speaker 9: he's composing something. There's a lot that. I mean, he
• 12:10
  Speaker 9: was a marine, so you would think it's his wife.
• 12:15
  Speaker 9: He didn't jump into the water. He said he saw
• 12:18
  Speaker 9: her swimming towards shore, which means he did see her,
• 12:22
  Speaker 9: so he didn't jump in.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: And go after her.
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  Speaker 9: He had training, he could have done that. It doesn't
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  Speaker 9: make a lot of sense to me. His story and
• 12:31
  Speaker 9: how he behaved. His behavior is very telling, that coldness
• 12:36
  Speaker 9: that we always talk about the flat affect.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Crime stories with Nancy Gray. Let me understand Melissa Andrews
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: joining us from WTL eleven. This trip to the Bahama
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: was part of a It was just one leg of
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: a four year liverboard experience.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Is that right?
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's exactly right. From what I've been able to gather.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: This couple was described to me as nomadic. They really
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: enjoyed this boating scene. They were documenting it on social media.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: I'm told that they bought this Soulmate yacht, this sailboat
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: in twenty twenty two in Texas and originally started their
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: journey around there. Then they went to Florida and boated
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: around again documenting this, and were in the Bahamas for
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: the last month or two.
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: We're pretty distraught that this is even happening. I'm still
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: in shock, like it's just surreal. He said that my
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: mom's missing and that she fell out of the boat,
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: and that he threw a life jacket to her or
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: something and he doesn't know if she got it or not.
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: Then he paddled the shore and then he called for help.
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: I was just sitting there in shock because I couldn't
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: imagine this actually happening to her. I just hope we
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: find her. I don't want to go forever just not
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: ever finding her again.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Oh my stars. The daughter Carly's flat affect. She looks
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: like she's just completely completely disassociated from what's happening.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: In shock.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: That's where our friends at thirteen years and NBC. I
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: want you to hear the voicemail husband Brian Hooker left
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: for the daughter a voicemail.
• 14:39
  Speaker 8: Hello Ian allome.
• 14:43
  Speaker 10: Rescue and they have found the potation device that I
• 14:47
  Speaker 10: drew to mom when she fell overboard.
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  Speaker 8: They haven't found her yet.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Okay, I want to hear that one more time.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Guys.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: This is the voicemail husband Brian Hooker leaves for daughter
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Carly a voicemail Hello.
• 15:01
  Speaker 10: Ian, awesome book search and rescue and they have found
• 15:07
  Speaker 10: the potation device that I threw to mom when she
• 15:10
  Speaker 10: fell overboard.
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: They haven't found her yet.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: That from our friends at CBS.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Why don't you leave that in the voicemail?
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: That's just hindsight to Sidney Silvanni, what is the status
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: of the search for Lynette now?
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: Well, Bahamian police have turned this from a search and
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: rescue effort to a search and recovery effort. They do
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: not believe four days later that Lynnette could possibly still
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: be alive if she did go overboard into the water.
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: Land searches are a different story. There's possibility that Lynette
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: did make it to shore and whatever happened in that
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: Dinghi has led her to stay hidden.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Sidney, as the search seemingly turns to a recovery effort,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: I'm very concerned, about some physical evidence, and I'm referring
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: to the AIS tracking system on the boat.
• 16:07
  Speaker 11: Listen, they have an AIS tracking system of the boat
• 16:15
  Speaker 11: and apparently he was on the boat and while he
• 16:18
  Speaker 11: was paddling to shore.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: So from our friends at Fox and Friends, Okay, what
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: does that mean? An AS tracking system on the boat
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: and it shows reportedly he was on the boat when
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: he says he was paddling to shore.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: Nanta.
• 16:38
  Speaker 8: It's a.
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: System that's designed for smaller vessels so that when they're
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: traveling in water, larger vessels cargo ships can see them.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: And this can even be put on smaller vessels like
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: the dinghy or a jet ski or something of that matter,
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: so that an individual, if they are not on a ship,
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: can also be seen by other people in the area.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: It uses radio waves, so it's unclear if it could
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: show if somebody was or was not on a ship,
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: but it can show if that ship is moving.
• 17:19
  Speaker 12: AIS system allows vessels of all sizes to exchange navigation
• 17:23
  Speaker 12: and identification information with each other when connected to something
• 17:27
  Speaker 12: like your chart plotter or your radar. The AIS seven
• 17:30
  Speaker 12: hundred allows you to see the name, course, speed, and
• 17:34
  Speaker 12: position of other AIS equipped vessels right on your screen.
• 17:38
  Speaker 12: As a Class B device, the AIS seven hundred not
• 17:41
  Speaker 12: only receives AIS information from other vessels, but it broadcasts
• 17:45
  Speaker 12: your boat's information too. This helps to ensure other vessels
• 17:49
  Speaker 12: out there are aware of your location and identification.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: That from Ray Marine on YouTube. So let me understand,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Randy Kessler, the daughter carly A Ellsworth is stating that
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: there is an AIS tracking system on the dinghy.
• 18:05
  Speaker 7: You know, technology can be faulty. I don't know what
• 18:08
  Speaker 7: the technology shows yet. All we've heard is hearsay from
• 18:13
  Speaker 7: the victim's stepdaughter and what she heard from somebody else.
• 18:17
  Speaker 7: So once it's all vented and fleshed out, that may
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: be the proverbial nail in the coffin or the smoking
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: gun that so far doesn't exist.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: So let me think, Randy, you've had to deal with
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: similar problems like this in many of the cases that
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: you have handled as a defense lawyer. Guys, By the way,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: just as a formal introduction, Randy Kessler is a veteran
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: child lawyer. He is a professor at Emory Law School,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: former chair of the ABA Family Law Section, and he's
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: the author of Divorce, Protect Yourself, your Kids, and your Future.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: You can find him at k s F Family.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Law dot com.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: How would you attack the AIS system that is on
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: his yacht Soulmate.
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: First thing I would do is hire somebody much smarter
• 19:12
  Speaker 7: than me that understands this technology and can point out
• 19:16
  Speaker 7: to me all the flaws and all the potential pitfalls.
• 19:20
  Speaker 7: And then after that, I would say, are we going
• 19:22
  Speaker 7: to trust some technology that is, you know, weird science
• 19:26
  Speaker 7: and you know Unfortunately the rest of the story makes
• 19:30
  Speaker 7: a jury want to buy and I think because everyone
• 19:32
  Speaker 7: wants a drama like this. Everyone wants to know this
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: guy who seems to have been abusive in his past,
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: and their allegations that he's choked his other child and
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: he's you know, heard his wife and threatened to throw
• 19:42
  Speaker 7: her off the boat. That's not enough to convict. But
• 19:45
  Speaker 7: this piece of technology evidence scares me as a defense
• 19:48
  Speaker 7: luyer because that could be what the jury needs to
• 19:50
  Speaker 7: be able to say, Okay, now there's some proof, because
• 19:53
  Speaker 7: except for that, there's no proof.
• 19:54
  Speaker 8: So I check out the technology.
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: I'd have an expert that's well versed in it, somebody
• 19:59
  Speaker 7: who's equally competent as the best expert to go to battle.
• 20:04
  Speaker 7: But I'd have to see what they're saying what they
• 20:06
  Speaker 7: tell me before I can even develop a strategy.
• 20:08
  Speaker 8: It would scare me as a defense lawyer. Absolutely.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: You mentioned allegations of prior choking.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Well, you opened the door, you brought it up.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: And now I'm stepping across the threshold.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Listen.
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: There's history of him choking her out and threatening the
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: thrower overboard, So the fact that this is actually happening
• 20:32
  Speaker 6: makes me believe there's more to the story. I've seen
• 20:35
  Speaker 6: him choke out one of his daughters before and we
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: had to go to court for that, and I was
• 20:42
  Speaker 6: only in third grade. So he's just repeating patterns.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: That is carly Aylsworth, That is Lynette's biological daughter from
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: our friends over at Fox and Friends. Yeah, that's your
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: worst nightmare, Randy Kesseler.
• 21:04
  Speaker 7: Right, that opens the door. Without that, they're not looking
• 21:07
  Speaker 7: at him as carefully. They're thinking, it's a loving couple
• 21:09
  Speaker 7: that are living this dream life, boating across the world,
• 21:13
  Speaker 7: and all of a sudden there's trouble in paradise, and
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: you've got somebody who's very credible. I mean, she lived
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: with this guy since she was four years old. He
• 21:20
  Speaker 7: helped raise her. Why would she turn against him. It's
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: the only living parent figure you know that she's lived
• 21:26
  Speaker 7: with left.
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: She's got something to say bad about him.
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: They're going to listen very carefully because she's got unfortunately
• 21:33
  Speaker 7: for him, she's got a lot of credibility. So her
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: appointing them in the right direction is a good start
• 21:37
  Speaker 7: for the prosecution.
• 21:38
  Speaker 8: It's not enough to convict him, but.
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: This new technology that may place him at the boat
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: when he says he was on the dinghy boy. Now,
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: all of a sudden, the conviction prospects are a lot
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: worse for him than they were until we knew about
• 21:52
  Speaker 7: this technology, or if he didn't have this history of
• 21:55
  Speaker 7: violence towards her, towards his wife, and towards others.
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: Success all right, we got the Gribt Groceries delivery.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: Here's that way in life man.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: That is from the sailing Hookers on YouTube, and that
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: is just the picture that a veteran defense attorney like
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Randy Kessler would want to paint.
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: Agree, Randy, absolutely, it's the dream come true. Why would
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: he not want that life to continue. It's not like
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: she's replaceable with somebody else. Will just hop on a
• 22:29
  Speaker 7: boat and travel the world with him. Seems like he
• 22:31
  Speaker 7: had the idyllic lifestyle. Why would you point the finger
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: at him. He's the victim. He's suffering, he's lost his partner,
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: his partner in this beautiful life, and now he's got
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: to defend himself and tell the world that he didn't
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: do it. Ladies and gentlemen, let this man go more privately.
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: Don't try to convict him of something he didn't do.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Something really sticks. Oh, I think it's you. Did you
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: just say he's the victim, That.
• 22:57
  Speaker 8: He is a victim.
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: Absolutely, he lost his wife lost not just his light,
• 23:01
  Speaker 7: his wife, his partner of twenty something years, his voting partner,
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: his world partner, his life partner. He's absolutely a victim.
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: Until he's found guilty of murder. He's not a He's
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: not guilty of anything, right, He's innocent to proven guilty,
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: and he certainly has suffered a loss.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure that, regardless the outcome, that most people
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: consider her to be the victim, since she's the one
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: missing and it's turned into a search and recovery.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, they're no longer looking for her swimming in the water.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: They're trying to find her dead body. I would think
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: call me crazy that she's the victim.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: So now you've left me in a conundrum.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Believe him or the ais, him or the raidar. Hmmm,
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: I'll think about that straight out to special US joining
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: us Ben Dobrin, Emergency Response Diving instructor, Dive instructor, trainer,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: police diver and Emergency Services.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Diver Ben Dobrin, thank you for being with us.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Initial thoughts about what happened to Lynette. My initial thought
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: is if he could paddle to shore, why didn't he
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: paddle to her in savor?
• 24:24
  Speaker 13: That's my exact thought. I was talking about it with
• 24:27
  Speaker 13: a friend today and I read his account is that
• 24:30
  Speaker 13: she started swimming and he started paddling, and why didn't
• 24:33
  Speaker 13: they Why didn't they meet together in the middle. If
• 24:37
  Speaker 13: he could paddle to shore, he could paddle to her.
• 24:41
  Speaker 13: And my other question is the daughter has said that
• 24:44
  Speaker 13: Brian is the one who usually operates the boat, why
• 24:48
  Speaker 13: was the kill switch lanyard on her? The kill switch
• 24:50
  Speaker 13: lanyard is a very short piece of string or rope
• 24:55
  Speaker 13: or whatever that is usually attached to the operator of
• 24:58
  Speaker 13: the vessel that the operator a fall overboard the boat
• 25:02
  Speaker 13: would stop. Daughter says that he always is the one
• 25:05
  Speaker 13: who operates the boat. There's no reason that she had
• 25:08
  Speaker 13: the kill switch lanyard and went into the water. So
• 25:11
  Speaker 13: that didn't make sense to me at all. Looking at
• 25:13
  Speaker 13: pictures of the little dinghy, it's tiny. You're not going
• 25:16
  Speaker 13: to not know somebody went overboard. You're gonna know they
• 25:19
  Speaker 13: went overboard. But even if she was driving for some reason,
• 25:24
  Speaker 13: he could have paddled back to her if she fell
• 25:26
  Speaker 13: off that the motor. Looking at the motor, I don't
• 25:28
  Speaker 13: know how many horsepower, but it's not big. It's not
• 25:30
  Speaker 13: a fast boat. He's not gonna go very far. Once
• 25:33
  Speaker 13: that kill switch lanyard got pulled, he might have gone ten, fifteen,
• 25:37
  Speaker 13: twenty feet and been able to paddle. If he did
• 25:40
  Speaker 13: that long distance paddle to shore, he could have paddled
• 25:43
  Speaker 13: back to her ten or fifteen feet. And if he
• 25:45
  Speaker 13: said she was swimming towards shore, that means she was
• 25:49
  Speaker 13: conscious and awake and ability to swim. She could have
• 25:53
  Speaker 13: very easily swum that little distance back to the boat.
• 25:55
  Speaker 13: Even if he couldn't have paddled to her for some reason,
• 25:58
  Speaker 13: she could have swum that distance back to the boat.
• 26:01
  Speaker 13: It doesn't make sense the story that he's giving. It
• 26:06
  Speaker 13: doesn't make sense.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm trying to take in everything you're telling me. Ben. Look,
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I'm just a trial lawyer.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, I know how to dive and dived.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: All over the world, but you're giving me so much
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: information it's hard to take in.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Let me just start at the.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Beginning, and please bear with these rudimentary questions.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Kill switch, kill switch? What is that?
• 26:27
  Speaker 8: There is?
• 26:28
  Speaker 13: Like if you've ever rented a jet ski or been
• 26:29
  Speaker 13: on a jet ski, there is a little little switch
• 26:32
  Speaker 13: that you put in to make sure that it runs,
• 26:36
  Speaker 13: and then as soon as you fall overboard, you pull
• 26:39
  Speaker 13: it and kill the switch. So in small boats there's
• 26:42
  Speaker 13: this safety feature and you attach it to yourself. Like
• 26:45
  Speaker 13: I said, it's a little lanyard. It's a little rope.
• 26:47
  Speaker 13: You can attach it to your wrist or you can
• 26:49
  Speaker 13: tie it to your PFD. But it's designed on a
• 26:52
  Speaker 13: small boat or a jet ski that if you fall over,
• 26:55
  Speaker 13: it stops. It's not some of the things that ignition key.
• 27:01
  Speaker 13: It's not a key. There's no key on little motors
• 27:03
  Speaker 13: like this, but it won't run without it. And if
• 27:06
  Speaker 13: he was operating the boat, it's attached to him. It's
• 27:10
  Speaker 13: not a very long rope. It's only like two or
• 27:12
  Speaker 13: three feet. The fact that he keeps saying she had it,
• 27:15
  Speaker 13: she had it when she went overboard. That means she
• 27:18
  Speaker 13: was driving. The daughter keeps saying that she never drives
• 27:21
  Speaker 13: the dinghy or you know, he's the driver of the dinghy.
• 27:24
  Speaker 13: It doesn't make sense that she had this kill switch
• 27:27
  Speaker 13: on her or with her. It would be attached to
• 27:30
  Speaker 13: the person driving the boat. It's not long enough. That's
• 27:33
  Speaker 13: a tiny boat. It's not long enough to get to
• 27:34
  Speaker 13: next person.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Okay, My understanding is a kill switch is like an
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: engine cutoff switch an eCos. It's a mandatory safety device.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: You have to have it.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: It instantly shuts down the engine if the operator is
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: thrown from the helm.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: It uses a physical.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Lanyard, it can use a wireless fob, and it breaks
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: the ignition circuit. Now that is federal law. That's federal
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: law for power boats under twenty six feet. Now, this
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: is my question to you, so we can all understand
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: kill switch. Will you keep saying only the boat driver,
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: the boat operator has to kill switch? Is that because
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: if it gets a certain distance away from the boat,
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: the boat automatically cuts off.
• 28:29
  Speaker 13: Well, it's a certain distance away from the motor and
• 28:32
  Speaker 13: from where the quick kill switch is attached. If let's
• 28:35
  Speaker 13: say the kill switch lane, you're just three feet If
• 28:37
  Speaker 13: the boat operator goes four feet away, it turns off.
• 28:40
  Speaker 13: On a boat that side is not going to make
• 28:41
  Speaker 13: a difference. But if you're let's say you're operating your
• 28:43
  Speaker 13: twenty five foot Boston Whaler and you're at the helm
• 28:46
  Speaker 13: and you walk toward the front of the boat, it's
• 28:48
  Speaker 13: going to kill. That happens all the time. That's why
• 28:49
  Speaker 13: a lot of people don't actually turn they don't wear them,
• 28:52
  Speaker 13: because if they leave the helm, it's going to kill
• 28:54
  Speaker 13: the motor. On a little boat like that, there's really
• 28:57
  Speaker 13: not that much distance. But still, if it's only a
• 28:59
  Speaker 13: three ft most of these lines are only two to
• 29:01
  Speaker 13: three feet long that boat. The person not driving the
• 29:05
  Speaker 13: boat isn't wearing it. It's only the person wearing the
• 29:07
  Speaker 13: boat who wears it. I can't imagine why somebody else
• 29:10
  Speaker 13: to wear it would unplug. You're too far away from
• 29:13
  Speaker 13: the motor for it to stay plugged in. If you
• 29:15
  Speaker 13: were not the operator, it's going to kill the.
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: Motor real quick.
• 29:19
  Speaker 14: I want to tell you guys, the importance of wearing
• 29:22
  Speaker 14: your kill switch. I mean, this thing is here for
• 29:24
  Speaker 14: a reason, So make sure you're clipping it onto your
• 29:27
  Speaker 14: belt buckle or somewhere onto your body whenever you're out
• 29:30
  Speaker 14: driving the boat. The reason for this, if you were
• 29:32
  Speaker 14: to ever get thrown out of the boat or thrown
• 29:34
  Speaker 14: out of the seat, and this boat is left in forward,
• 29:39
  Speaker 14: it's going to be out of control. The kill switch
• 29:41
  Speaker 14: pops off, kills the motor on contact, just like that,
• 29:45
  Speaker 14: and you're not going to crash into anything just like that.
• 29:48
  Speaker 14: So make sure you're wearing your kill switch.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: That from Matt Baker on wearing your kill switch and
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: boat safety tips Crime Stores with Nancy Gray.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: So now I get at Ben Dobraen.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: You're telling me that he the husband, says she fell
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: overboard in the Bahamas. She had the kill switch, and
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: you're saying that's impossible he was driving.
• 30:26
  Speaker 13: It was impossible. If he's driving, he's wearing the kill
• 30:29
  Speaker 13: switch lanyard. Let's, just for the sake of argument, say
• 30:32
  Speaker 13: she was driving out of the ordinary according to the daughters.
• 30:35
  Speaker 13: You know what she has said. The daughter said he
• 30:36
  Speaker 13: always drives. But let's say he had a couple of cocktails,
• 30:39
  Speaker 13: or he's feeling seasick for some reason. Let's say, just
• 30:42
  Speaker 13: for argument's sake, she was the one actually driving. She
• 30:45
  Speaker 13: falls overboard. It still doesn't explain he said she started
• 30:49
  Speaker 13: swimming the shore, he started paddling the shore. Did he
• 30:51
  Speaker 13: just paddled in a parallel course to her? Why didn't
• 30:54
  Speaker 13: he paddle to her? If she could swim, why didn't
• 30:57
  Speaker 13: she swim to the boat? Like I said, when the
• 30:59
  Speaker 13: kill switch kills the motor, that little boat not going
• 31:03
  Speaker 13: very far. Twenty thirty forty feet at most, it's not
• 31:06
  Speaker 13: very far, So I mean the motor is dead. He's
• 31:09
  Speaker 13: not pulling away from her. If she has the kill switch,
• 31:12
  Speaker 13: he is not pulling away from her underpower. If she
• 31:16
  Speaker 13: can move, she's not far away from it. Even if
• 31:18
  Speaker 13: she can't move, he can paddle to her. If he
• 31:21
  Speaker 13: paddled to shore, he could have paddled to her. Shore
• 31:25
  Speaker 13: is a lot further away than what she was. Even
• 31:28
  Speaker 13: if the current was ripping, as he says, the current
• 31:31
  Speaker 13: is pushing him in the same direction as it's pushing her,
• 31:34
  Speaker 13: he would be going in the same direction. He wouldn't be.
• 31:38
  Speaker 13: She wouldn't be pulling away from him. She'd be going
• 31:41
  Speaker 13: in the same direction. He'd be using the current to
• 31:43
  Speaker 13: get to her whether she was driving or and took
• 31:47
  Speaker 13: the lanyard, or he was driving and somehow she'd grabbed
• 31:50
  Speaker 13: the lanyard and fell overboard, she still wouldn't end up
• 31:53
  Speaker 13: very far away from the boat. He could have paddled
• 31:55
  Speaker 13: to her, or she could have swum back to him,
• 31:58
  Speaker 13: or both.
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: So, being darbor, what should have happened when she fell
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: from the dinghy.
• 32:05
  Speaker 13: If he was driving, and let's say she fell from
• 32:07
  Speaker 13: the dinghy the first thing, and for some reason she
• 32:09
  Speaker 13: grabbed the kill switch lanyard, he would still be able
• 32:11
  Speaker 13: to paddle to her. He made it clear that he
• 32:15
  Speaker 13: paddled to shore. She's drifting. If she was unconscious, she
• 32:19
  Speaker 13: would be floating. If she was wearing a PFD, she'd
• 32:21
  Speaker 13: be floating so she could breathe. She's going whichever way
• 32:24
  Speaker 13: the current's taking her. The current is taking the boat
• 32:26
  Speaker 13: in the same direction at the same speed. He could
• 32:28
  Speaker 13: paddle to catch up to her. If she was conscious,
• 32:31
  Speaker 13: she could swim. She could swim back to the boat.
• 32:34
  Speaker 13: Everything that I see online looks like she's fit and
• 32:38
  Speaker 13: in shape, and if she spends a lot of time
• 32:40
  Speaker 13: in the water, she probably is a halfway decent swimmer.
• 32:44
  Speaker 13: Once that kill switch gets pulled, the boat stops. It's
• 32:47
  Speaker 13: not going very far away from her. There's not a
• 32:50
  Speaker 13: huge distance. Yes, it's dark. It might be hard to
• 32:54
  Speaker 13: see somebody if she had a PFD on. There's different questions.
• 32:58
  Speaker 13: My PFDs have lights that are water activated, so if
• 33:02
  Speaker 13: you fall in overnight, it's a light activated light activated
• 33:07
  Speaker 13: on the PFD. I also have what's called an EPERB
• 33:10
  Speaker 13: and electronic satellite on my PFD, so if I fall overboard,
• 33:14
  Speaker 13: my PFD pings up to a satellite and then the
• 33:17
  Speaker 13: coast guard knows where I am. He said she wasn't
• 33:20
  Speaker 13: wearing a PFD, but then they found.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Guys, what are you saying?
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: PFD is a personal flotation device. Every time you get
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: on a plane, they scare the hay out of all
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: the passengers by telling them what will happen if you
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: crash over water, and they refer to your flotation device
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: and they say it will light up once it touches
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: the water. Nobody wants to think about that, but that's
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: what he's talking about. It's like a life vest that
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: lights up when it hits the water. Personal flotation device PFD. Okay,
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: other thoughts, Ben Dobrin, If.
• 33:55
  Speaker 13: She wasn't wearing a PFD, then it'd be hard to
• 33:57
  Speaker 13: see at night. I mean, I don't know what the
• 33:59
  Speaker 13: moonlight like the starlights. But if he's driving a boat
• 34:03
  Speaker 13: at night, he can see enough to operate a vessel.
• 34:06
  Speaker 13: He would be able to see somebody in the water
• 34:08
  Speaker 13: that was near to him if he's looking out for
• 34:10
  Speaker 13: you know, it's the Bahamas, there's reefs, there's channel markers,
• 34:13
  Speaker 13: there's booies, there's other boats. He can there's enough light
• 34:17
  Speaker 13: that he can operate the vessel. There's enough light that
• 34:19
  Speaker 13: he can see somebody floating in the water who's not
• 34:22
  Speaker 13: super far away from him. And if she was conscious,
• 34:25
  Speaker 13: she would be yelling and waving her hands, or if
• 34:28
  Speaker 13: she was unconscious, she'd still be floating at the surface,
• 34:31
  Speaker 13: so he could see her and be able to see
• 34:34
  Speaker 13: her and then paddle to her and recover her back
• 34:37
  Speaker 13: onto the dinghy.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: What is a way bendbin for us to determine what
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: the weather really was when she quote fell overboard?
• 34:45
  Speaker 13: In America, there's Noah has booies and you can get
• 34:49
  Speaker 13: historical data on the booys of what the sea state was,
• 34:52
  Speaker 13: how big the waves are, the wind. I know the
• 34:54
  Speaker 13: water temperature in the Bahamas right now is about seventy
• 34:57
  Speaker 13: six or seventy seven. So you know, people don't think
• 35:00
  Speaker 13: that you can get hypothermia and the Bahamas, but after
• 35:02
  Speaker 13: about various fifteen to twenty hours, twenty five hours, you
• 35:07
  Speaker 13: can still get hypothermia and the Bahamas if you're in
• 35:10
  Speaker 13: water that long. But if you want to check out
• 35:11
  Speaker 13: the sea state, I don't know if Bahamas has something
• 35:14
  Speaker 13: akin to the Noah buoys that we have in the
• 35:16
  Speaker 13: United States looking at the sea state.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: If you know or think you know anything about the
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: disappearance of Lynette Hooker, please dial crime Stoppers two four
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: two three hundred eight four seven seven repeat two four
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: two three zero zero eight four seven seven update in
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: the last hours, her husband has been detained in her disappearance,
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: and we wait as just as unfolds, we remember an
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: American hero Officer, Adam Buckner t SONPD, killed in the
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: line of duty, leaving behind a grieving wife now widow
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: American hero Officer Adam Buckner Nancy Grace signing off for
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: to night, Good night friend.