'I Was Shocked': Bahamas Bartender Reveals Brian Hooker's Final Moments Before Wife Lynette 'Fell Overboard' — As She Still Remains Missing
Brian and Lynette Hooker had drinks at the Abaco Inn in Elbow Cay before she disappeared.
April 20 2026, Published 4:45 p.m. ET
One of the last people to speak to Brian Hooker before his wife, Lynette, went missing in the Bahamas is recalling chilling details of their interactions, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
A bartender named Ken, who works at the Abaco Inn in Elbow Cay, revealed that he was "shocked" to hear about what happened to Lynette after pouring drinks for the couple during her final hours.
Bartender Had Two Interactions With Brian Hooker
The bartender who served Brian Hooker hours before wife Lynette's disappearance revealed their interactions.
Ken distinctly remembered Brian as being "pretty tall," telling the New York Post, "He seemed like an old war vet or something like that."
The mixologist said the couple drank rum and Cokes by the poolside in the early evening hours of April 4, and did not detect anything strongly amiss.
Ken claimed Brian quietly paid cash for the drinks without any conversation, then came back later for more and was appreciative of the booze-slinger's speed.
"He was like, 'Oh man, thank you for getting me served kinda quick’ … because we were crowded," he explained.
Couple Drank Rum and Cokes Poolside Before Lynette's Disappearance
The Hookers had multiple social media accounts sharing their sailing and travel adventures.
While Ken had two interactions with Brian, he never actually laid eyes on Lynette.
The barkeep said he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, "not what I saw, anyway,” that could have predicted what happened hours later.
The couple, who had been married for 25 years, were traveling in an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy en route to their sailboat, Soulmate, when Brian claimed his wife fell overboard and was carried off by the rough, churning sea.
Brian said he was unable to alert authorities immediately, alleging that Lynette had the boat keys on her when she entered the water, and he had to paddle for seven hours before finally reaching the Marsh Harbour Boat Yard on the island of Abaco.
Bartender Questions What Took Brian Hooker So Long to Make It Back to Land
Brian and Lynette Hooker shared a video aboard a boat earlier in April.
"When I heard about it the next day, I was shocked, definitely. But then again, I didn’t see the lady, I didn’t get to talk to her or anything like that," the bartender told the outlet about Lynette's watery disappearance.
However, the bartender said the timeline and locations between when he last saw Ken and where he later turned up didn't add up.
“It’s weird … for him to be going from here to there, then ending up in Marsh Harbour, and nobody sees the lady, it’s weird," referring to how the Soulmate, which they were returning to, was anchored off Elbow Cay.
"What catches my eye is they left here at 7, 7:30 p.m., " Ken continued, and that Lynette going missing "supposedly happened right after they left here, and he didn’t make it over there until 4 a.m. or something like that, in 25-mph winds," he explained.
"It’s only four miles that way. It shouldn’t have taken eight to 10 hours to get there. Even if he was only floating, it should have been a much quicker time," he noted about Brian's claims to how he got to Marsh Harbour.
Brian Hooker Remains a Person of Interest in Wife Lynette's Disappearance
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Brian Hooker was released from police custody after being questioned.
Brian was arrested several days later and questioned about his wife's disappearance, but was later released. He remains a "person of interest" in the case.
The avid sailor vowed he "would never harm" Lynette and desperately wanted to find her, claiming, "I won’t be able to stop looking."
However, he flew back to Michigan on April 16, with Brian's lawyer saying his client needed to tend to his ailing mother.
