Bahamian officials search for missing US woman after husband says she fell overboard

Bahamian police have said the couple was traveling in an 8-foot motor boat from Hope Town to Elbow Cay on Saturday night, and that the woman's husband told authorities she fell overboard with the boat keys, causing the engine to turn off.

“Strong currents subsequently carried her away, and he lost sight of her,” police said in a statement issued Saturday.

Authorities said the woman’s husband paddled to shore and alerted someone about the incident early Sunday.

NBC News quoted a woman identified as Karli Aylesworth who said her mother, Lynette Hooker, is missing in the Bahamas, and that it was unlikely she would “just fall” off the boat.

Aylesworth also was quoted as saying that the couple’s relationship was volatile, and that they have a “history of not getting along, especially when they drink.”

On Wednesday morning, Brian Hooker, whom Aylesworth identified as her stepfather, wrote on Facebook that he is “heartbroken over the recent boat accident in unpredictable seas and high winds that caused my beloved Lynette to fall from our small dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas.”

“Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart,” he wrote. “We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus.”

The U.S. Coast Guard told the AP on Wednesday that Bahamian officials asked them to help on Sunday with an HC 144 aircraft, “with nothing found.” The Coast Guard said it hasn’t received additional requests for help.

Bahamian police said search operations and investigative efforts remain active.

“These efforts have spanned marine, land and aerial areas, with additional support from drone technology and professional divers,” according to a statement.

Chief Troy Pritchard of Hope Town Volunteer Fire & Rescue in the Bahamas declined to comment when reached on Tuesday and referred all requests for comment to Bahamian police.