Savannah Guthrie did not spend 500k on private investigators in Nancy Guthrie case

Hey guys, thanks so much for checking out my show.Really, really appreciate you guys very much.Thank you so much to those of you who have subscribed and supported all my content.Two topics in this episode.First of all, I'm going to get into the latest on the Nancy Guthrie investigation, some new comments from Kash Patel.Dive into what those mean with retired FBI agent, Maureen O 'Connell, my friend.

And then also clearing up a report that I have learned, I suspect that it wasn't true and I've learned officially it's not true.So I'm going to clear that up for you guys.Also getting into the latest on the Lynette Brian Hooker investigation.Where is Lynette Hooker?Went missing in the Bahamas.Been a lot of activity over the last week.

Coast Guard is back out there searching.What was the outcome of that?And then also I'm going to talk to Maureen about whether she thinks there could be a successful prosecution here and what she says may actually surprise you.

So I'm going to dig into all of it this episode of Bryan Enson Investigates.

All right.Hey, guys.So I want to give you the latest, again, the two cases, Nancy Guthrie, obviously, which I've been covering.every day or every other day, trying to stay on top of everything.And then also the Lynette Hooker case, which I'll get to a little later in this episode, which has been very active over the last week with the Coast Guard back in the Bahamas.But first of all, with the Nancy Guthrie case, there's something that I wanted to clear up.

There was a report that Savannah Guthrie had hired private investigators.And I think the report said like spent $500 ,000 on private investigators, which I was always very skeptical of.And I actually said on my show once before that I just had a hard time believing that because of the sources that I have.I think I would have heard that by now.But the report kind of went everywhere.I saw a lot of people talking about it.

And I have now confirmed that that is not true.So that report, I am told, is not true.Savannah Guthrie did not spend $500 ,000 on private investigators.is just the Pima County the FBI that are investi right now.Um, and I'm g more into that in a secon in terms of how the inves really heartbreaking over Savannah Guthrie posted on her stories.Um, it said, Sola cries out and then it said, bring her home with a heart, which I just just a reminder again, what Savannah Guthrie is going through, what the Guthrie family is going through, what Annie is going through, what Cameron is going through.

I mean, I think, again, sometimes I get so wrapped up in the investigation and trying to tracing down all these little leads and bits and pieces of information that I find.I just sometimes I also like to just have a moment to remember that.you know, there's a family hurting right now and I know Savannah Guthrie obviously has to put on sort of a strong face for her job on the Today Show and for her kids and has to sort of try to move on in some way.But just when she posted that over the weekend, it just reminded me that this has got to just be weighing on her pretty much all the time and just how terrible that must be and how I hope that there's some kind of resolution soon.So I wanted to show you guys that if you didn't happen to see it on Instagram.I wanted to clear up the confusion about the report that was out there that that the Guthrie family had paid these private investigators and hired private investigators which I'm told is not true.

And then I wanted to play for you NewsNation's Katie Pavlich, one of my colleagues at NewsNation.She interviewed Kash Patel, who is of course the FBI director, who has spoken out a little bit in the past about the Guthrie investigation, but she asked him if there was an update, sort of what the latest is, and I wanted to play that for you.what Kash Patel's response was.

From day one, the FBI offered up our assistance because it was a state and local matter.So we were not the lead agency because it was not being investigated as a federal matter, because there was no evidence about a federal nexus to a federal crime.So we showed up immediately and offered our assistance.We were not let in for four days.And that's their choice.We continue to offer assistance.

I even visited our Tucson office where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie race to provide intelligence.What the FBI is great at, what we did when we finally had access to the Ring doorbell camera, for example, we went to our partners at Google and we said, hey, we know that there wasn't a paid subscription service, but let's go look at the metadata and see if we can find a needle in a needle in a needle in a haystack.And what do we do?We pull that out.Same thing with the DNA.We offered our assistance to go test the DNA.

And it's up to them.They chose to use a private laboratory.It's like a child abduction case or missing persons case.You need the first 48 hours to hit the ground hard.And again, the state and locals are in charge of those investigations.We, the FBI, don't take ownership of them.

We've continued to offer assistance.We continue to do it now.And we will show up for any investigative examinations that they wish our assistance on, whether it's our laboratories in Quantico.But that's the nature between state and federal and local law enforcement.And what you saw here in Ohio is when state and locals work together, it works really well.

So obviously there's still a bit of a blame game going on here between the FBI and the Sheriff's office.The Pima County Sheriff has said, last time Kash Patel said that, that they were kept out of the investigation, the Sheriff basically said that that was not true and that there was a member of the FBI task force that very quickly was part of the investigation, like almost from the beginning.But a member of the FBI task force that works with the sheriff's office, I've learned or been told, is different than the full weight of the FBI being called in initially.And that's something that I want to explain.And who better person than Maureen O 'Connell?You guys know her.

I have her on a lot.She's one of my friends.She's a retired FBI agent.And I'm going to get to Lynette Hooker a little bit later in this episode.But first, I wanted to talk to Maureen about the latest with the Guthrie investigation and specifically what she reads into Kash Patel's comments.Hey, Maureen.

Thanks so much for coming on my show again.Really appreciate it.It's nice to see you.It's nice to see you too, as always, Brian.I wanted to introduce you, by the way, my scalp, scalp, scalp.It's my dog.

I'm home right now.So yeah, she's just resting on the couch next to me, which is nice.

So cute.

Yeah, she's a good dog.I wanted to start out asking you, though.Cash Patel was on News Nation and was asked about the Nancy Guthrie investigation again.And kind of gave a similar answer to what he gave to Sean Hannity last time he was asked about it and said that, you know, they weren't called in early enough.And specifically said, you know, sort of alluded to the fact that that the FBI lost out on those first 48 hours, which is different than what the sheriff has said.The sheriff says, oh, we have someone on the FBI task force in the sheriff's office, and they were there within the first 48 hours.

Like, what do you, I guess, what do you read into that?Like, who's kind of telling the truth here?

Wait, was he, did he say that the task force was there on scene with his, with his detective, as well as the FBI agents assigned to that task force?Is that what you understand?

Yeah, so the, the, Kash Patel has said that they were kept out for the first 48 hours.The sheriff has said, That's not true because we have someone on the FBI task force that's within our office who was there within the first 48 hours.

Okay, well, okay.Yeah, those are two different things.When the FBI is on scene, and there's 100 or more of them in a nearby hotel, and they're briefed up, packed up, have all their gear, and they're ready to roll, and sitting there waiting for four days.That is entirely different than an FBI agent on your task force, probably a fugitive task force.So they're not, he's not an evidence guy.He might be, you know, like I was an evidence person and I worked criminal matters my whole career.

So there is that.And I think the same, the same can be said for some other retired FBI agents, like even, you know, that you've talked to.However, It's not the same as allowing the specialists, the ERT members to come in, be part of, help set up a plan.And because a lot of times when you're going into a situation like this, You put a plan together first.You don't just, you know, rush the door, bum rush the door and go in and start doing whatever you're doing.You put a plan together and you have one of the team members does an initial walkthrough.

And during that initial walkthrough, which could have been and should have been done with the CSI person and or detective and someone from Pima County, you walk through and it's probably one of the guys that was there initially that can say, when I came in, the family members were here.They told me this.Then we walked over here.They told me that.We searched everything.Because, you know, when you when you roll up on a situation like this as a sheriff's deputy or as a police officer, it could have been a situation as simple as she was changing a light bulb in a closet or in the garage and she fell off a ladder and she's tucked behind something.

So you have to, when you search for someone, it's not just shouting their name and looking around.You actually have to look in places that you might not suspect.And Pima County Sheriff's Department is very accustomed to looking forpeople in these type of situations.So that's probably what they were looking at initially.So anyhow, the narrative was set by the family members talking to those initial responders.

And so the initial walkthrough might be with those people or with that law enforcement officer.and telling you exactly what they found, what they saw, we noticed this, the family member said this is out of place, or the family member said this happened when, and then you can say, you know, how long was the family member here before they called you guys, and how far did they look, and did they walk around outside, whose cars got pulled up on the driveway, did everyone park out in front beforehand, or, you know, did the family members, were their cars up it toward the back, whatever.What did the family members say about these back doors being ajar with those potted plants being propped open?You know, those type of things, because that's going to steer your plan.Your plan is going to be, you know, it's going to be comprehensive.very comprehensive.

But this type of information will help you as you formulate your plan.So having a guy from the Fugitive Task Force, to get back to your question, is really great.And he's someone that can interface with the FBI agents that are at the hotel.But these are agents from other divisions that just got flown in that, you know, that's going to come down from the top.The information is going to, regarding what they're supposed to do, is going to come from a a higher level than a member of a task force from that division.

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Make healthier eating easy with Factor.I really do love it.Yeah, and if you're a deputy, kind of, yeah, I just wanna understand, like, if you're a, the way I understand it, it's like a deputy who's on the FBI task force, who I guess, are you really an FBI agent?

I mean, how?No, well, no, but they're, no, I think what he's saying is, on the Pima County Sheriff's Fugitive Task Force, they've got an FBI agent assigned to that.So yes, there's an FBI agent assigned.It's an FBI agent who's assigned to the criminal division, which is different than the CI division.It's in different almost silos, but not really silos, but a little bit.You're in different divisions.

You work different categories of crime, so to speak.And so they that works in the criminal division, that's on a fugitive task force, that's assigned to the Pima County Sheriff's Department, and that's where they work.For example, I was assigned to the sheriff's gang unit for seven years.And so I drove out to Compton, and I reported to a an L .A.County Sheriff's Sergeant and Captain, and that's who I worked with.

I still had my own chain of command, as this FBI agent would have his own chain of command, but I was assigned there working large -scale gang cases.

So what do you make of Kash Patel bringing this up again?Do you think this is him frustrated, thinking we could have really move this along faster if the sheriff had called us all in and let us all come in sooner?Or do you think this is him trying to sort of, you know, blame someone else, trying to, you know, take a little bit of the blame, the heat off of them?Or is it both, I guess?

Well, it sounded like he was, you know, asked a question and he was just responding, but I don't know what the setup to that or the lead up to that was.It does sound to me a little bit like things aren't in as great a spot as he would have wanted.And he feels it's because of the four day lapse that occurred.Because after four days, let me ask you this, how quickly was it that all the press showed up out in front to where there was no parking spots out in front?

Two days.

Okay.Because for a walk away, yeah, pulling up in the driveway is no big deal.And since that's the vast majority of all the calls they get, I can understand that.But once they realized that wasn't the case, that driveway should have been sealed off.And they should have created, remember I talked to you before about a pathway into the residence that is not the one consisting ofthe access or egress by the offender.

So, for example, if you're standing out in front of Nancy's house, and you see the circle driveway in front of you in the front door in front of that, and the driveway up the side, it would.It would seem logical or let's say based on the the evidence that they had That driveway the straight driveway was in play the circle driveway was in place.So what are we going to do?That's part of our plan Our plan is we're going to create a separate walkway on the left side of the property I don't know if that's north south east or west and we're going to walk all the way up and we're going to uh, you could even put um canvas over that pony wall to get into another slider doorway that you believe was not in play, but do everything you can to make sure that you're not touching door handles, you're not touching window frames, anything like that, because you don't know where the evidence is going to lead you.You may think you do, but we all know, we as evidence techs, no, no, we do not know where this evidence is going to lead us.So we're going to have to just err on the side of caution in absolutely every aspect of this investigation.

Before I move on from Kash Patel, it was also interesting he mentioned that he was in Tucson.and saw the agents, which I remember when he came there and they kind of downplayed it and said that he was there for a different reason, something pre -planned.But I figured he was also there to kind of talk to them about everything.I mean, it was, you know, right then it was the biggest story in the country.I figured that he must have also been somehow involved and had been talking to them about Guthrie since he was in Tucson.

I'm not sure why.I've never had that happen before.And I've been on some pretty big crime scenes and, you know, you know, like plane crashes and stuff.I've never had the director show up.I don't think I've ever seen him.assistant director even show up.

So I don't know what that would be about.I'm guessing it might have been a pep talk, a pep talk of sorts.Yeah, which is fine.I'm not, you know, I don't, I don't know that they really needed it.I, I never felt like I needed a pep talk.That's what our own leadership was for.

But I do like leaders that that support and are and you know, I guess it's nice to have a leader that's leaning in and trying to get people excited.I remember one time at a crime scene when the agents were all getting ready to leave after being on scene.We were probably on scene for 17 hours of processing a crime scene, and we all looked like just drowned rats.I mean, we looked terrible.And the press was outside at a level I had never don't think I'd ever seen before.So I gave them a pep talk before they walked out and just said, hey, guys, this is this is your moment.

This is the this is the time when, you know, all these photos are going to be used in trial.They're all going to be used in court.Just take a few minutes to just, you know, wake up, slap your face, look alive, carry your evidence with purpose, because we had to load up the whole big truck out in front.And a couple of them said later, thank God you said that, because, oh my gosh, I look terrible.But once we got the pep talk, and we all walked out together, and we all loaded up the truck, that's a different thing.We were all in it together the whole time.

And good for him.I guess supporting your troops, to me, that's a good thing.So I'm happy for that.I just have never seen it.

I just thought, yeah, I thought it was interesting.He was he was there and referenced it now.Sheriff Nanos also did an interview recently.And he kind of says the same thing over and over again, just because I don't think there really is anything new.But he did say that DNA testingat multiple labs is delaying the investigation, which I guess would make sense that they've got multiple labs.

I know it went to Quantico at one point, but I think they also use other private labs that specialize in certain different techniques, right?

It's better to have, I mean, interoperability is always your best option, if possible.But there are, and the capabilities of the FBI lab are just unbelievable.And we also have access to everything else, meaning every criminal record, everything that you could, if you wanna tie one thing to another thing, that's the place you wanna be.Because we have tie into local systems, federal systems, the whole nine yards.We can tie into systems, well not, we can look at things across the globe.We can bounce it off the national and even global picture if we need to.

Any little bit of information, we can get a lot of stuff done that other people would have that would take a lot longer for other entities to even attempt to do it.They may not even be aware of our capabilities.But if you have a lab that's better at it.And I said this from the very beginning, because when we were initially talking about this, and we were talking about Touch DNA, I said I didn't have a problem with him sending it to that lab in Florida, if in fact that's the best place for Touch DNA, and he had already sent some of the other evidence there.What I didn't realize at that time was all the consternation that was between Nanos and the FBI.That paints a little bit of a different picture for me. I think no matter what happens in any crime, you always have to honor the victims of that crime by doing the very best you can do for those victims.

And I'm not sure that that's done.That'swhat was done here, but hopefully we'll get to a place where someone's in handcuffs, we can go to trial, all this stuff is released, and we'll be able to see exactly what was done, how it was done, and whether or not it was effective or whether or not it was detrimental to the overall investigation.

Yeah, what you said about the FBI being able to do things that people don't even realize, Patel made a statement about that, too, saying that, you know, they would have never been able to get that Google Nest video from the camera without the subscription, without the FBI.I mean, that's not something like a local sheriff's office would be able to sort out, I don't think, especially that quickly.So I think that just makes that point, you know?

Just what the FBI did in that moment is invaluable to this investigation.It's unbelievably invaluable because it let us know, and I remember the moment I saw those images, I was just shocked and appalled for what Nancy had to go through in the moments that followed that.We saw the gun.We saw how he was covered.We saw that he came prepared.We saw that he probably had a kill kit in that backpack with a tarp.

We knew right then that there was absolutely no denying ever that something like this, something horrible had happened to Nancy.The blood on the porch, yes, that's bad.But we all know that elderly people on Coumadin and other things, they can bleed pretty well with just a slight, you know, like you brush against a cactus or a rosebush.That clearly is not what happened here at all.And there was a great deal of question just looking at the blood pattern and having listened to blood pattern analysis.However, Once we saw these images, once the FBI was able to pull that rabbit out of the hat with that

thing, and we saw that porch guy, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that something absolutely monumentally horrific happened to Nancy Guthrie.

Yeah, I remember that too.Because sometimes from when you're covering a story, there's these moments where everything feels like it changes.And that was one of those moments when when when Kash Patel tweeted the photos, and that's how they first got out in the video.I remember thinking like, Oh my god, this is like a horror movie.Like this is worse.It's actually it was actually worse than I expected, which, you know what I mean?

Like, worse than I expected to.Yeah, it was actually worse.Sheriff Nanos also said, and this was from his most recent interview, I wanted to see what you thought about this.He said, people are working and doing their best to stay within those rules.No one wants to arrest the wrong person.And he was kind of talking about why it's taking so long.

But I thought it was interesting to stay within those rules.No one wants to arrest the wrong person.I was thinking back to the two raids where they basically did detain the wrong people.I mean, what do you think?

No, because all they did was detain them.They weren't under arrest.They did the right thing with the information that they had.Their phones were in the area.They had probable cause.A judge signed off on it.

There's no way that they detained the wrong people, in my estimation.

But I guess he's just saying that they're being extra careful now.No one wants to arrest the wrong person.

You do not want to arrest the wrong person for murder because if you have to let them go, it just looks awful.And then it looks like a seesaw situation where you arrest him, you let him go, then you arrested him again, which is it?You just imagine what's going to go on in the courtroom and how that will affect a jury, and it's not good.So you always have to be very careful in that regard.You got to line everything up.And like I think I said a couple of weeks ago,

they're going to have the best defense attorney in the country at this time, whoever takes this case.And you have to go in there under the assumption that a couple of chunks of your evidence are going to get tossed.And when they get tossed, what's left?Do you have enough at that point to convict this person of murder?Because if you don't, you only get one shot at it.And if you don't make it happen, it's not going to happen.

And I know you're right, I mean, technically, maybe they weren't arrested, but it still, it wasn't a good look.I mean, they detained the people, they searched their house, they turned it upside down.

Sorry, I couldn't hear you.There was a helicopter.I don't know if you heard, but it was a really loud helicopter above.

No, I couldn't hear it.No, what I was just saying, though, is I know you're saying technically it was an arrest with those two people they detained, but it still wasn't a good look.I mean, they turned their houses upside down.They kept them in custody for hours overnight, one of them.So, you know.I don't know, I don't think it looked good.

Well, if you were them, though, you would be very happy about it.You get pulled into the Nancy Guthrie investigation, you know, it's like you had nothing to do with it.

Well, it'll be the best story they tell at every party for the rest of their lives.No one got harmed.I mean, I don't know.Law enforcement is a messy business.It's not clean.It's not clear cut.

If you look at every massive failure in society, almost every piece of it gets heaped onto the shoulders of law enforcement to deal with.Everything from, I mean, they want us to be ninja warriors, mental health experts, CSI experts, and the list goes on and on and on.And so, you know, it's every just epic failure in society gets heaped on the shoulders of law enforcement.So you can't expect it to be clean and shiny.and nice at all times.I'm sure the law enforcement officers that were there, I know the FBI, I know how we handle situations like that.

And they talked to everyone involved and they said, is there anything we can do to make it better?We apologize, blah, blah, blah, put out a statement, a press release.These people are not culpable for this crime.We don't believe that at this point.And it's risky business.Yeah, and they haven't really said that well worth doing.

They haven't fully no one has actually come out and said yet.And we still haven't seen the search warrants.Granted, it seems that they're totally not involved.But it is kind of interesting that no one will actually go on the record yet and say, you know, 100%.Again, I have no indication.I mean, I've looked into it and talked to the people and their lawyers, and I don't think they're involved.

But yeah, you were there that night.Yeah, yeah.So I don't think they are at all.But I guess at some point, maybe the sheriff will have to put out a statement and say, you know, to officially kind of clear their names or whatever.Again, I want to get my hands on those search warrants eventually.

Yeah, because those search warrants, those search warrants were signed by a judge, which means there was probable cause in there.And those don't get signed lightly.Yeah.Those judges know.Yeah.

However, I don't think, again, everything I know, there's no, I don't think there's any chance either of them are involved.I think there would have been an arrest by now, but we'll see.The lawyers, we've talked to the lawyers.They've been very strong that those, the men, both men had nothing to do with the Nancy Guthrie situation.I have no reason to believe that, but you know.And that's good.

Yeah, yeah.Maybe the sheriff will make a statement at some point.Is there anything else that's been on your mind?I mean, it's happened four times.for months, which is crazy.You and I have been talking since this happened.

Anything else on your mind with Nancy Guthrie?

Yeah, those recent 911 calls that were, or excuse me, the dispatch traffic that was reported on, what was it, a week or two ago, where that woman, Juanita Adame, was able to put out some stuff.The thing I found very, very interesting was the family let the first responders know, this is based on the dispatch recordings, that they had no access or control over any of the cameras around that house.And I guess the general understanding is that Nancy only put the cameras up for wildlife purposes, which I understand.I mean, I think it's great in a situation like that.It's cool to watch the birds and everything like that.But I just found that strange.

I mean, it would seem obvious to me that if my mom, if my mom was putting up or your mom was putting up cameras just for wildlife, I would be like, hey, mom, let me let me be able to look at it, too, just in case it's something other than wildlife.But, you know, I guess that didn't happen.

Yeah.And the wildlife and also she had the ring camera or the Google Nest camera doorbell camera.I can't imagine that would have been for wildlife.Right.I mean, right on her front door.

I know.

But I always just go back to I don't know.My mom is very independent.And she's, you know, not as old as Nancy Gastery, but she...You know, she ain't leaving her house.I mean, I know she's still the mom, you know what I mean?No matter what, I'm not going to be able to boss her around.

She's I don't know if she would want me to have access to her camera.You know, I just always kind of go back.And I always get that vibe from Nancy.And I obviously didn't know Nancy, but she seemed like an independent woman.She brought the kids up alone.Her husband died.

You know, a lot of people said, well, I would never let my mom live out in that house in the middle of nowhere at that age.Well, it's not really in the middle of nowhere.It is, you know,it's dark out there.But, you know, you can't just boss your mom around.

No, I agree with that.I'm glad you don't boss your mom around, Brian.I'd be very disappointed if you did.Yeah.

Well, even if I tried, she'd be like, F you.You know what I mean?Right.

And I was the same age as Savannah when our father died very suddenly.And my mom was left with six kids.So I understand exactly what you're talking about.We were all teenagers and pretty young.And my mom was the strong one.Well, that actually made her way stronger than she was before.

So I get that.And my mom was a very independent woman also, God rest her soul.I can see that.But again, my mom wouldn't mind if I said, hey, mom, I'm going to what's the what's the log into that or show me where's the email for that?I'm going to get signed on and make sure that it's all up and running so that I can.She wouldn't it wouldn't be bossing her around.

It's like, hey, mom, I love you.I just want to keep an eye on things.Is that cool?Yep.That's cool.OK.

You know?Yeah.

Yeah.I never thought about it.My grandma actually my mom's mom lived on a farm.My grandpa died and she stayed out there living in the middle of nowhere.until she was old, too.So I mean, some people, that's just what they want.

You know what I mean?That's right.

That's what we have to honor that.Yeah, because I'd rather.Yeah, I'd rather I, you know, I want to stay in my home.Yeah.But it's not an option.

I don't have a lot of judgment there.Yeah.I mean, I think at the end of the day, it's like you have respect for your parents and you have to respect their independence if they're still mentally with it, which Nancy was.I mean, it's one thing, obviously, if they're losing it.But if they're mentally with it, you know, you might not like everything they want to do.But I don't know, it's still your mom, you know?

Yeah, and they're adults and they get to make their own decisions.I mean, I know that I'm probably going to end up being a non -compliant patient if I ever get into a situation like that.someone needs to take care of me.And when you're headstrong, that's what happens.And when you're thrust into a situation like she was, like my mom was, where you're left with these kids and you're raising them on your own, you become the boss.And that's not something that you can shed easily.

So I don't fault her for that at all.I understand it.I understand it very well.

I could see you being a little noncompliant at one point, by the way.

I could see you being a little noncompliant too, Brian.Yeah, I got my mom's blood in me.Let's call it what it is.

She's a little noncompliant.No, I'm just kidding.

Or your grandma.

Yeah, right.I know.I had never thought about it.I'm like, man, she built on a farm until she was so old.And no one was helping her.Do you know how hard that is to take care of land and a house by yourself?

Yeah, and she had cows and stuff.But just my last Guthrie question that I just thought of, With the sheriff doing another interview, what would you advise him?You know, at this point, you think it's good that once in a while he still, I mean, he'll never do an interview with me, it doesn't seem like, but he's still doing interviews once in a while with the local media.I mean, is it good that he's kind of keeping it out or should he be staying quiet because there's no updates?

I have no idea.I have no advice.I mean, I have no advice for him.I guess to a certain extent, I think it's good that he comes out intermittently and says something.I think that's important.And if it keeps the case alive and people interested and people still looking and trying to find out what happened, then OK.

All right, appreciate Maureen for talking to me when it comes to Guthrie.I'm going to pick back up with Maureen in a second when it comes to the Lynette Hooker investigation.And for those of you who are a little behind on that, let me just update you.Lynette Hooker, of course, went missing in the Bahamas.It's now been more than two months.She was living on a sailboat called Soulmate with her husband, Brian Hooker.

They're from the Bahamas.Brian Hooker claims the weather wasn't good.They were going back out to the boat on their dinghy, their very, very small dinghy.and that Lynette essentially just bounced off and disappeared.But there's been a lot of questions about Brian Hooker's story and whether it's true, especially from Lynette's family.And there is now a criminal investigation, not only in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas had Brian Hooker in custody for five days and then let him go after questioning.But there's a criminal investigation by the U .S.Coast Guard now.that is ongoing and we have been told by sources that The story that Brian Hooker told about where he was does not match up with GPS data, which led them to go back out and search again.The U .

S.Coast Guard go into the Bahamas and search again on land and also on shore for Lynette Hooker.Now, it seems that search did not turn up Lynette, unfortunately.They did take the dinghy that they were in that was in the custody of the Bahamians.The U .S.

Coast Guard now has the dinghy.There's been a lot of hope that this will turn into a bigger investigation that this trip out to the Bahamas by the Coast Guard last week will push the investigation forward.It's interesting.You're going to hear Maureen in a second, but she's a little skeptical that Brian Hooker that there will end up being a prosecution and there could be.And if you guys go back a couple of episodes, I interviewed a no body homicide prosecutor who talks about why these cases can move forward.But Maureen is skeptical for a couple of specific reasons, which I'm going to let her explain.

But after two months, is it going to be difficult?

It sounds like it's going to be really, really difficult.It's difficult in and of itself just to prosecute any murder case without a body.It just gives you a lot of extra hoops to jump through.I think it's going to be exceptionally difficult not having the body in this situation.The fact that he lied to the police is one thing.materially different is the location information that he gave versus what the GPS data showed?

It's totally different.It's a whole different area.Yeah.It's not just a little off track.It's far apart.

Do we know right now how many cocktails they had when they went out before they got back on the dinghy to leave?

I don't.I don't know.

I just know they had some.Because that's going to give him plausible deniability.If they say, oh, he had four margaritas and three shots of tequila, would you know where you were after that?Who knows?

He could even say, yeah, we each ordered two, but I drank hers.

And then I was piloting the boat or captaining the boat.So I think it's going to be exceptionally hard.I don't know, though.I mean, this case from the beginning was just mired with difficulties.That's putting it mildly, I think.I don't know.

They were able to impound his boat, or it was their boat.I think it was Lynette who paid for it.It's called Soulmate.And I went and saw, it was back over here in Florida, and it was at the Coast Guard Station in Fort Pierce, and now they moved it to the Coast Guard Station in Fort Lauderdale.And at one point they had crime scene tape up around it.There were clearly evidence texts going on and off, pictures, all sorts of stuff was happening.

We couldn't see in the boat.And since that's what you did, I mean, if you had a boat like that, what do you, and you're getting on to process it, what do you do?

Well, so the FBI does crimes on the high seas, so cruise ships and international waters and all that stuff.So I've been on many, many cruise ships, but only to process crime scenes.I've never been on a cruise and nor do I think I've ever been on a boat.going to go on a cruise because of all that experience.But so you're going into a space where you're going onto this boat and the boat is going to be covered in his fingerprints.It's going to be covered in her fingerprints.

It's going to have his DNA all over.It's going to have her DNA all over.It's going to have saliva.It may have a little bit of blood because when you're fishing or doing anything like that, you may cut your finger.So it's, You know, it's going to get wet.It's going to get wet from waves, from rain at night.

It's not as easy as a crime scene where an unknown individual interjected themselves into a home.His DNA is there.It doesn't belong there.Remember Nano saying, oh, we have DNA separate and apart from the DNA that actually belonged in that house.OK, I don't know what they're going to have here.It's going to be challenging.

That's why that's one of the reasons why I said you know, when I was considering what they have and what they don't have, and how much of all the stuff they have, I was thinking, hmm, it's going to be really challenging.Because whatever the prosecution says, the defense should be able to come up with something that could be remotely possible as a retort to that, you know?

Yeah, and they also didn't get the boat.The Coast Guard didn't for, you know, it was more than a month after Lynette went missing.I don't know if that, that's probably not good, right?

no that's probably not good because it's got all that salt on it now and again you're still going to find all the fingerprints you're still going to find some blood residue if there is any there's going to be a lot of fish blood on there if they fish do they did they fish off that or did they just use it for transport to the big boat i never heard when this is the big boat i'm talking about by the way that they impound oh yeah i'm gonna get to the dinghy in a second but this is the big

this is the big boat they lived on that's now docked at the Coast Guard station in Fort Lauderdale.

So they may be able to find stuff if it is the big boat, which I didn't realize, so I apologize for that.If it is the big boat, maybe they got into fights on other nights.And maybe there is a pillowcase with a blood stain on it.Maybe there's maybe the headboard on the side that she slept on, which will be indicative of...You can pretty much tell that kind of stuff from the stuff you get from the crime scene, for example.You can test the lamp and you'll see that on this lamp, 94 % of all the fingerprints belong to Lynette.

This is her side of the back.In here, you have women's feminine products or whatever, her lip gloss, her journal, her phone charger.And on his side, you have totally different things.Sometimes things like that are very obvious and sometimes they're not that obvious.But if you have bloodstains on her side of the headboard and then maybe a little cast off on his, and it's her blood, maybe those are the tales they're trying to tell with this evidence, with this evidence collection, which would make sense.

And they, back to the dinghy, they did also, so they had the boat for like the last couple of weeks, they impounded it here in Florida, but it was just within the last week, when the Coast Guard went over and was searching for Lynette again, that they took the dinghy, because the dinghy was being held by the Bahamians, and now they also have the little dinghy that Brian Hooker says Lynette, essentially bounced off of.I mean, would there be much to do with the dinghy at this point?

Well, I mean, if the assumption is that he hit her in the head with an oar, you know, there might be someblood cast off that dried on that dinghy.that might still remain.So yes, I mean, if her blood is in a pattern consistent with her being, now, the first strike is not gonna draw blood.I mean, it may cause her to bleed, but you're not gonna have the cast off and everything.It'll be the second one when you hit that wet surface, meaning like her bloody head, if that is in fact what happened.

That's when you're gonna start seeing the cast off and the satellite images of the blood being drawn.impacted her or the wound being impacted and the blood being shot or pushed off her head as a result of that force.So yeah, there could be something like that there.And that would be hard for him to explain.I think with regard to the GPS data that you were talking about earlier, if let's say the GPS data showed that that dinghy, are you saying the GPS data is with the dinghy or the boat?

It's his All we know is that it's his electronic devices.So I know he had an Apple Watch, a phone.I'm thinking it was one of those.

Okay.But are you thinking it was the dinghy or the boat?

Well, I think it was on him.So I think it was when he was on the dinghy.

All right.So let's say he said, I took the dinghy from point A to point B, but then the GPS shows it went from A to B to C to D to E, whatever.They're looking in those locations to see if a body was dumped or dragged or anything like that.And that's why those data points are really important for police at this point.

Makes sense.Some of his friends who we've spoken to, and it's interesting, a lot of his friends are doing interviews now because they were also her friend and they've really sort of turned on him.Some of them were kind of just neutral in the beginning and wanting people to go out and search for Lynette.And now people are sort of saying, oh, we're suspicious of him.And some are now saying that they're worried he's going to leave the country because this is sort of heating up.Do you think that there's eyes on him?

Yeah.Meaning, are you asking me if he's under surveillance?

Yeah.Or just like, are they, you know, do you think they're worried he could leave or how does what I mean?

Yeah.They're worried.It sounds like they're worried about it.I'd be worried about it.You can put up all kinds of tripwires to see if he leaves the country or does this or that, but it sounds like he's thinking about things.Who wouldn't be thinking about leaving in a situation like this?

But who knows?Maybe his attorney is telling him what I was just saying, which is this is going to be a very difficult case for them to prosecute.Yeah.Sometimes they just wait for the passage of time, because what happens with the passage of time, especially for someone if, in fact, it's my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, but they like to have cocktails every night.Is that right?

Yeah.I mean, I don't know about every night, but I know that they like to have cocktails, from what I've heard.Yeah.

Yeah.It's just a matter of time before he runs his mouth.Maybe that's the final thing they're waiting for.

Yeah.I still think there's something that we don't know.that the Bahamians knew and that now the feds know here.Just the fact that they kept him in custody for five days until the very last second when the law there required them to release him.I don't know.I just, to me, that stood out.

Like, if they thought that he was just this guy whose wife accidentally fell off the dinghy, like, would they have, you know what I mean, to keep him in there for five days?I still think there's something that hasn't been made public.

Well, there's definitelyyou know, the Bahamians keeping him for five days when that's what they can keep him for.I don't have a problem with that.They may just have wanted to figure out a plan for how we're going to process this boat.Can we, can we, do we have enough probable cause to go on his boat when they were on the dinghy?Maybe we can only get probable cause to search and seize the dinghy and not the boat, but we want the boat for the reasons I said earlier, like, was he beating her on a regular basis on the boat?

We don't know any of these things now.I'm guessing that there are hundreds of items that we know nothing about, and I don't think we should know about them.The people we care about in investigations like this are the victims, and you have to do whatever you can to make sure that their interests are held in the highest regard throughout this whole thing.So yeah, I have no problem.I'm absolutely certain, absolutely positive.It's one of the few things I'm positive about.

There's all kinds of stuff we don't know, and that's great.

It does seem like there's progress, though, with – I know what you're saying, that you think this is going to be a hard one to prosecute, but I mean, there is progress when you think about that they figured out that the GPS is not matching where he actually was, that they impounded the boat, that they're back there searching again.It seems like they're moving in a direction.

Well, there's a great deal of cooperation and interoperability even between the FBI and law enforcement and other entities in other places like the Bahamas.We have people assigned there.A lot of the work that they do would be along having to do with money,transfers and people having, you know, or hiding or shielding money in some way, shape or form.So there's a lot of people in place that work together.And when the FBI and the American government send people over to different locations to be assigned there at an embassy or just in a lesser capacity, their job in large part is to interface with all these other entities that are there to try to open lines of communications and create a situation where if any cooperation is needed, they have a relationship with this person.

It's in situations like that that you can really get things done.And the juxtaposition between that and what is going on in the Nancy Guthrie case is fairly stark.And it's because, in my opinion, if you look back to 2016 when Nanos was making those videos on how much he hated the FBI, One can infer that that's probably why he blocked them for four days, because he didn't like them, he doesn't want to, even though I'm sure none of the same people are even involved in the FBI there.you know, when it comes to the hierarchy of the FBI, oftentimes they do rotate in and out of positions at the top.So that could be why we're seeing a great deal of movement in this particular investigation and why we're sort of stumbling along a little bit in Tucson, which is a shame.

Brian Hooker, he hasn't been talking in a while, no one knows where he is, but initially he was talking a lot.He did a couple of media interviews, he was texting and talking to a lot of his friends who we've now talked to.Do you think that will come into play?Do you think at some point he may have messed up with keeping his story straight?

Well, it's definitely going to come into play because it's words that came out of his mouth, statements that he made, and they're going to tieto the data.That's, that's the, you know, basic 101 of any investigation.Who said what?How does it fit on the timeline?How does it, how does it tie into everything that we know to be factual?

And so, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's always easy to tell the truth.It's always difficult to remember a lie.So who knows, you know, if his, his statements already have been proven false by the GPS data.So it's, You know, it's not out of the question or not out of the realm of possibility that his other statements are going to be called into question also.

As always, I really appreciate Maureen for taking the time to talk with me.With Brian Hooker, he has said over and over again that he's innocent.that he has nothing to do with his wife's disappearance, that it was just a terrible accident.Where Brian Hooker is right now, by the way, it's kind of interesting.We don't know.Some of his friends fear that he may have actually left the country.

We don't know where he is.He hasn't been spotted in a while.

So I'll keep an eye on that.

It's going to be interesting to see.I mean, there's obviously stuff cooking behind the scenes.I showed you guys last week.Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker's boat, Soulmate, is in custody of the Coast Guard.It's actually at the Coast Guard station in Fort Lauderdale right now, which isn't that far from where I live, actually.And they were doing processing on that, like forensics, which you heard Maureen talking about.

So it'll be interesting to sort of see what develops there.I'll keep you guys posted.And of course, I've got a couple of things I'm going to work on this week in regards to the Nancy Guthrie case.So I'll keep you guys posted there, plus a couple of news stories that I'm looking into.So my voice, if it still sounds a little weird, I had this bad cold.I had like a fever, but then it went away.

The fever went away, and I feel so much better, but I'm still like really, really stuffed up.So I'm hoping that'll go away soon.It's just kind of annoying.But I appreciate you guys very much, as always.I told you guys in one of my short videos over the weekend, I'm so excited I hit 600 ,000 subscribers on YouTube.I really only have you guys to thank for that.

And it just means so much to me that you have supported me and supported my channel and followed the stories that I cover and found them to be important and gotten invested in them.So I just I never thought that I would hit 600 ,000 subscribers.So Just wanted to take a second to thank you guys for that, because that's really all because of you.And I'll keep doing the best that I can.I want to try to dive into some cold cases.Some of you guys send me emails about stuff you want me to cover, so continue to do that.

And I'll talk to you guys later.