Brian Hooker’s estranged stepmom urged him to “tell the truth” about his wife’s disappearance after she toppled into Bahamian waters while the pair were boating.
While Hooker, 59, remains behind bars until at least 7 p.m. Monday at Central Police Station in Freeport, his stepmother, Donna Hooker, is struggling to grapple with his wife having gone missing.
“I can’t comprehend it because of knowing him like I do. I don’t understand,” she told ABC 13.
Hooker and his 55-year-old wife Lynette were riding in an 8-foot dinghy April 4 when she reportedly fell overboard and was swept away in the powerful current.
He was arrested Wednesday, but continues to deny any wrongdoing. Hooker is being held in custody as authorities decide whether to file charges, his attorney Terrel Butler told CNN.
“If he did what they think he did by pushing her out of the boat, he needs to tell the truth,” said Donna Hooker, who last saw him when her husband George — Brian’s father — had a stroke in 2021.
That is when he allegedly aired out his martial woes to her.
“I asked Brian, ‘Where’s Lynette?’” she recalled. “And he said ‘Well, we’re not getting along, we’re separated and I don’t know when we are going to get back together – if we’re going to get back together.’”
She added: “I don’t think Lynette and Brian should have been together … it just seems like it got bad.”
The stepmom said she wasn’t aware of any violence – but Brian and Lynette’s neighbor told a different story.
Jordan Plentz, 29, told the Detroit News she witnessed “pretty bad” domestic violence between the Hookers.
The pair, who have been married for about 25 years, had previously split up, before reuniting.
There had been at least one domestic violence call to their home, with Lynette being the one charged.
Lynette’s daughter Karli Aylesworth, 28, was concerned about her mother’s safety and called for a thorough investigation into Brian Hooker, who is not her biological father.
“There have been prior issues brought to my attention, which may be important for any thorough investigation. If this truly was an accident, I can understand and live with it,” Aylesworth said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“However, there needs to be an intensive review of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident before that can be determined.”
Brian Hooker’s lawyer did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
