Crime scene tape surrounds the sailboat Soulmate in Fort Pierce, Florida, where authorities are conducting forensic processing as part of the investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance, a source familiar with the probe told Fox News Digital.
Images obtained Tuesday show crime scene tape draped across portions of Lynette and Brian Hooker's sailboat, Soulmate, as it sits docked at the U.S. Coast Guard's station in Fort Pierce, where the source said evidentiary processing of the vessel is underway.
Investigators wearing black shirts with yellow lettering, tan pants and blue gloves were seen searching the boat on Tuesday, according to his wife fell off a dinghy after leaving shore at Hope Town at around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, saying that Lynette fell off with the ignition key. Local authorities said that he arrived at a marina at Marsh Harbour at around 4 a.m. on April 5 after paddling to shore, roughly eight hours after his wife went overboard. Despite a weekslong search, authorities haven't been able to locate Lynette Hooker.
In recent days, according to CBS News, the Coast Guard Investigative Service's probe into Lynette Hooker's disappearance has intensified.
The Coast Guard declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital, citing the active investigation.
The development comes about a week after the Coast Guard sought the public's help in finding the owner of a sailboat that was moored near Brian and Lynette Hooker's "Soulmate" in the Bahamas.
Brian Hooker was detained for five days by Bahamian police after his wife disappeared, but wasn't charged. His Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways," Crystal Marie Hauser said.
While Hauser said she imagines Brian Hooker's "heart" is in the Bahamas, she didn't reveal if he has plans to return.
Brian Hooker left the island for the U.S. to tend to his "very ill" mother, his Bahamian attorney previously said.
After Lynette Hooker went missing, Brian said in a Facebook post that he was "heartbroken."
"I am 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," he wrote. "Despite desperate attempts to reach her, the winds and currents drove us further apart. We continue to search for her and that is my sole focus."
Fox News Digital reached out to Brian's attorneys.
Fox News Digital's Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.