Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / U.S. Investigating Lynette Hooker's Disappearance as MURDER | Crime Alert 06.04.26

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U.S. Investigating Lynette Hooker's Disappearance as MURDER | Crime Alert 06.04.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news Now. I'm Sidney Silvanni.
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  Speaker 1: We have a chilling update out of the Caribbean, where
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  Speaker 1: federal investigators are drastically ramping up pressure on a case
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  Speaker 1: that has mystified missing persons advocates for weeks. The disappearance
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  Speaker 1: of fifty five year old Michigan mother Lynette Hooker, who
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  Speaker 1: vanished last month on her way to a sailboat in
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  Speaker 1: the Bahamas, is now officially being treated as a murder investigation.
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  Speaker 1: A United States official confirmed of Fox News reporter Mike
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  Speaker 1: Ruiz that federal authorities are preparing to meticulously comb through
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  Speaker 1: the couple's luxury sailboat, aptly named the Soulmate, searching for
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  Speaker 1: any forensic evidence pointing to foul play. Suspicion is centered
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  Speaker 1: heavily around her husband, fifty nine year old Brian Hooker.
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  Speaker 1: Brian originally told authorities that his wife accidentally fell overboard
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  Speaker 1: on the night of April fifth, during a volatile Caribbean
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  Speaker 1: storm that tossed their vessel. While Brian Hooker has not
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  Speaker 1: been charged with any crime, law enforcement officials are refusing
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  Speaker 1: to take his story at face value are taking an
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  Speaker 1: exhaustive look at their floating home, where the Michigan pair
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  Speaker 1: lived while traveling the world. Their most recent vacation turned
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  Speaker 1: out to be a doomed trip to the Bahamas. Investigators
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  Speaker 1: recently uncovered a highly suspicious detail. The sailboat mysteriously stopped
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  Speaker 1: transmitting its GPS location data on the exact night Lynnette disappeared,
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  Speaker 1: only resuming transmissions the following morning. Furthermore, a friend of Brian's,
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  Speaker 1: blamed Stevenson, previously said that Brian returned to the sailboat
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  Speaker 1: with search and rescue officials on the morning of April fifth.
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  Speaker 1: Federal investigators officially reopened the search last month after newly
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  Speaker 1: obtained forensic data suggested glaring inconsistencies in Brian's timeline of events.
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  Speaker 1: Law enforcement officials have since seized the Soulmate from the Bahamas,
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  Speaker 1: docking it first in Fort Pierce, Florida, before moving it
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  Speaker 1: down to Fort Lauderdale. A US official states that the
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  Speaker 1: next critical phase involves hauling the massive sailboat completely out
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  Speaker 1: of the water and transporting it into a secure warehouse
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  Speaker 1: for an elite forensic sweep. Crime and Justice News after
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  Speaker 1: this next we turned to an infuriating scene inside a
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  Speaker 1: California court room that has sparked nationwide outrage. An illegal
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  Speaker 1: immigrant accused of brutally slaughtering a two week old infant,
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  Speaker 1: the child's young mother and her grandmother actually flashed a
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  Speaker 1: smirk during his first court appearance on Monday, twenty eight
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  Speaker 1: year old Joaquin Escoto entered the Stanislaus County Superior Court
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  Speaker 1: heavily shackled at his wrists and ankles, wearing an orange
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  Speaker 1: and white jail uniform, alongside his defense attorney and a
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  Speaker 1: Spanish interpreter. As devastated relatives wept openly in the gallery,
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  Speaker 1: Escoto appeared completely unfazed by the horrific charges leveled against him.
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  Speaker 1: Escoto faces three counts of first degree murder for the
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  Speaker 1: vicious deaths of twenty three year old Fabiola Gonzales Nunez,
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  Speaker 1: her newborn son Mateo Gonzalez in fifty four year old
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  Speaker 1: Sylvia Nuniez vie Loobos. Prosecutors have also filed special circumstance
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  Speaker 1: allegations for multiple victims, a knife enhanced child abuse resulting
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  Speaker 1: in death, and child in dangerment. The brief hearing lasted
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  Speaker 1: only a few minutes, but the emotional devastation in the
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  Speaker 1: courtroom was absolute. Speaking to local outlet KTXL, Maria Nunez,
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  Speaker 1: the sister of Sylvia and aunt of Fabiola, expressed the
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  Speaker 1: profound grief of a family robbed of a bright future.
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  Speaker 1: He set her weeds. She had a goal life in
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  Speaker 1: front of her. She had goal, she had dreams. The
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  Speaker 1: grief stricken family remains completely blindsided by the sheer brutality,
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  Speaker 1: struggling to comprehend how someone they welcomed into their lives
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  Speaker 1: could commit such an act. Maria Nuniez told KTXL that
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  Speaker 1: the family had shown nothing but kindness to the suspect.
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  Speaker 1: They given mother, loved, their respect, and they were then
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  Speaker 1: stand what was going on was say. The timeline of
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  Speaker 1: this nightmare traces back to the morning of May twenty eighth.
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  Speaker 1: Modesto Police Department officers rushed to a residential home near
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  Speaker 1: Monterey and Thrasher Avenues just after nine twenty am following
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  Speaker 1: report of a severe domestic disturbance. Upon entering the home,
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  Speaker 1: officers discovered the bodies of Gonzales Nunia's and Nunias via Lobos,
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  Speaker 1: both pronounced dead at the scene. Tiny baby Matteo, who
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  Speaker 1: was not even two weeks old, was found suffering from
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  Speaker 1: horrific multiple stab wounds. He tragically succumbed to his injuries
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  Speaker 1: a short time later at a local hospital. An additional
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  Speaker 1: three year old child was rescued from inside the home
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  Speaker 1: and hospitalized for evaluation. Authorities later confirmed that Escoto was
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  Speaker 1: in a romantic relationship with Fabiola Gonzalez Nunias and is
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  Speaker 1: the biological father of both children. Beyond the immediate horror
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  Speaker 1: of the crimes, an explosive political battle is erupting over
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  Speaker 1: Escoto's extensive immigration in criminal history. According to the Department
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  Speaker 1: of Homeland Security, Escoto is a Mexican national who initially
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  Speaker 1: entered the United States illegally in twenty eighteen. He was
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  Speaker 1: subsequently deported during the first Trump administration, but later sneaked
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  Speaker 1: back into the country illegally. Once back, Escoto accumulated a
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  Speaker 1: lengthy rap sheet, including four separate dui arrests. Federal officials
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  Speaker 1: reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a formal detainer
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  Speaker 1: against Ascoto following a June twenty twenty five dui arrest,
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  Speaker 1: explicitly requesting that local jailers transfer him into federal custody
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  Speaker 1: for deportation. Instead, local authorities released him back onto the
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  Speaker 1: streets without ever notifying ICE, a move dictated by California's
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  Speaker 1: controversial sanctuary state policies. Following this horrific triple homicide, ICE
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  Speaker 1: has lodged a brand new detainer against Descoto. High ranking
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  Speaker 1: federal officials of publicly blasted California's sanctuary laws, fiercely arguing
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  Speaker 1: that this family would still be alive today had local
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  Speaker 1: law enforcement allowed ICE to deport Ascoto last year. Escoto
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  Speaker 1: remains held without bail and is ordered to return to
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  Speaker 1: the Stanislaus County Superior Court on July twenty eighth at
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  Speaker 1: eight thirty a m. For the latest crime and justice
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  Speaker 1: breaking news. Be sure to tune in tomorrow on your
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  Speaker 1: favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Sidney Silvani.