EXCLUSIVE: 'His Story is the Entire Case' — Top Maritime Lawyer Explains How Brian Hooker Will Have to Persuade Investigators in Disappearance of American Woman in Bahamas

Only Brian Hooker truly knows what happened to his wife, Lynette, when she was allegedly tossed off their small boat and swept away into the Bahamian waters, never to be seen again.

All eyes continue to be fixated on Brian, and speculation has run rampant about his possible role in the disappearance, but RadarOnline.com has learned it could be hard for investigators to definitively conclude his innocence or guilt.

Brian has been adamant he had nothing to do with the tragic incident and has maintained "strong winds" knocked Lynette off their tiny dinghy while they were sailing in the Bahamas.

According to Brian, Lynette was driven away by the current, and he lost sight of her. Now it's his word or nothing, unless Lynette is miraculously rescued.

"Only Brian saw what happened, and his story is the entire case," maritime lawyer Michael Winkleman, Partner at Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., exclusively told Radar. "So if it goes to trial, it will come down to whether the jury believes his story or not."

The attorney said the truth may never be known, as crimes in open water are often hard to solve.

"There is a huge amount of crime that happens at sea, specifically because of the isolation factor," Winkleman added. "This pattern is one that comes up regularly in my practice, and along with the challenges for evidence and jurisdictions, it makes them that much harder to overcome than anything that happens on dry land."

Brian had been labeled a person of interest in his wife's disappearance and was initially brought in for questioning by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. But after several days in custody, he was released without any charges.

After his release, his attorney said her client intended to continue searching for his wife.

"Mr. Hooker's primary focus remains the search for his wife of 25 years," his attorney, Terrel A. Butler, said in an April 14 statement. "He is dedicating his full emotional and physical energy toward coordinating with relevant parties to find her."

In his first public statements on the investigation, Brian insisted to NBC News, "I'd never harm Lynette. I want to find Lynette."

However, just a day after his release – and his promise to keep looking for Lynette – Brian left the islands and headed to an undisclosed location to care for his sick mom.

The sudden departure seemed fishy to lawyer Winkleman: "It sends a message, in my opinion, that if he leaves, he is trying to somehow avoid the investigation.

"Every action Hooker takes plays a role in the court of public opinion."

Despite Brian's release, the U.S. Coast Guard has announced its criminal investigation will continue, much to the satisfaction of Lynette's daughter from another marriage, who has her own questions and concerns.

Karli Aylesworth said she thinks her stepdad used his mother's illness as an "excuse" to leave the island nation, and added that the woman has been "terminally ill for a while."

Aylesworth, who arrived in the Bahamas last week, has been critical of her stepfather since her mother went missing.

"I think it shows his character. He somehow lost my mom at sea and cries on camera saying he'll never stop searching, then leaves the next day," Aylesworth told the New York Post upon her arrival in the town of Marsh Harbour, close to where her mother went missing.

She shared a similar message with NBC, saying, "I hope this was just a freak accident, but I just have a hard time believing it at the moment. I just want to know the truth.

"I feel like this was probably preplanned, if anything, like, it doesn’t seem like just some accident."