investigations

For months, many Bahamians followed the disappearance of Lynette Hooker with a feeling that something about the story did not sit right.

The 55-year-old Michigan woman vanished in Abaco in April. The explanation initially given was that she had fallen from a dinghy into rough waters while returning to a sailboat with her husband, Brian Hooker.

But from the beginning, questions lingered. Social media exploded with theories and many dissected the details.

Following the release of Brian from police custody, many members of the public struggled to believe it was simply a tragic accident at sea.

Now, the investigation has taken on an even more serious turn.

According to CBS News, U.S. authorities have been examining the case as possible foreign murder of an American citizen. While no charges have been filed and investigators have stressed this is not a new development, the revelation confirms what many people suspected from the earliest days of the case: authorities were looking beyond the possibility of an accidental disappearance.

This week, the search entered a new phase as U.S. Coast Guard vessel arrived in Marsh Harbour carrying specialized divers tasked with searching areas that had not previously been examined.

Investigators are reportedly relying on GPS and digital forensic evidence to guide their efforts, including information that could help pinpoint locations in Abaco’s waters where new evidence may exist.

Lynette’s family still does not have answers and said they had expected a sailing trip through the islands; instead, her disappearance has become the focus of an international investigation involving Bahamian and American authorities.

The case is now a closely watched investigation, drawing attention from international media and federal investigators.

Ever since the general election, much of the public conversation surrounding Jonathan Gardiner case has focused on the plane crash, drug trafficking allegations, the mysterious “Politician-1” and questions surrounding government contracts.

But also inside the court documents is a revelation that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), confidential sources allegedly operated inside the Bahamas for at least three years as part of an undercover investigation into a drug trafficking network that investigators say stretched between the Bahamas and the United States.

That raises questions that extend beyond Gardiner.

What does it say about American confidence in Bahamian institutions if United States investigators allegedly spent years building a case through confidential sources operating on Bahamian soil?

And did Bahamian authorities know?

For major federal investigations to last three years, investigators must have believed they were pursuing something significant, which requires time, money, manpower and patience.

Investigators must have felt they were dealing with an organized network rather than isolated criminal activities.

It means the American authorities view the Bahamas as central to a long-term narcotics investigation in the United States.

The Bahamas’ geography has always made it attractive to traffickers. With lots of islands and cays that sit just miles from the United States, vast stretches of water are difficult to monitor continuously. Smugglers have long seen the country as a transit point.

Their long-term investigations could show their concerns about networks, facilitators and relationships.

Already, public discussion has moved beyond Gardiner and toward issues of contracts, political associations and the mysterious figure identified only as Politician-1 in court documents.

Whether those questions ultimately lead anywhere remains to be seen, but the damage is already occurring.

Instead of discussing the Davis administration’s second-term agenda, much of the national conversation is being consumed by an American drug investigation.

That is a problem for the government.

The Bahamas has spent years trying to strengthen its standing with international regulators, investors and financial institutions. Any suggestion that the country was a major focus of a years-long DEA investigation inevitably attracts attention beyond Nassau.

People outside of the Bahamas will judge the country by the headlines it generates.

The larger question is what the DEA investigation reveals about the country’s systems, weaknesses, corruption and relationships that spurred American investigators to spend three years looking so closely at the Bahamas in the first place.

For almost a year, the public awaited the outcome of the investigation against Transport and Housing Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis, who was accused of hitting an officer with her vehicle at a Carnival event.

Since politicians are rarely prosecuted in the Bahamas, many predicted that no charges will be brought against the sitting member of parliament even though the police claimed it was investigating the matter.

Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander announced the case’s closure on Friday.

Here is a look at the road to the Jobeth Coleby-Davis’ investigation

May 21, 2022

A Corporal of the Royal Police Force was allegedly struck with a vehicle driven by Housing Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis at Carnival Road March when he tried to prevent her from entering an area that was cordoned off on West Bay Street in the area of St Albans Drive.

Coleby-Davis was driving a silver SUV when the police officer told her that he was instructed not to let any vehicles through, to which she shouted, “Do you know who I am!’ as she attempted to go around the barricades and hit him before he moved from her pathway. A witness along with friends claimed to have seen the event around 10 am and filed a police report.

The officer was reportedly injured to the leg and received medical help at the hospital.

May 25, 2022

Coleby-Davis denied the allegations outside of Parliament stating that she would never react in the manner described since she was with her daughter at the time, hinting that she was politically targeted. “I stand by that and my grandmother always taught me that the last laugh is the best one and so it’ll be cleared up.”

Commissioner of Police at the time, Paul Rolle said the Royal Bahamas Police Force was investigating the matter and his assistant commissioner was finding out “exactly what happened.”

“We are dealing with that from within. I don’t have a timeline. Whenever that is finished, I don’t know that it’s something I will be discussing so much in the media, I don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” Rolle said.

July 6, 2022

Pressed by former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis who was asking for an update on the matter, Prime Minister Philip Davis denied there was ever an official investigation into the alleged incident during a debate in the House of Assembly.

He summed it up to be an internal inquiry to determine who was telling the truth, and nothing more.

May 30, 2022

By this time, a video to exonerate her, circulated on social media reportedly showing the incident. However, Police Staff Association Executive Chairman Ricardo Walkes said the video does not prove anything since it does not show what happened to the officer before filming began. “The video that’s going around shows what happened afterward, not what happened before the officer called and received backup,” Walkes said.

June 29, 2022

Former Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said he directed the incident be turned over to the complaints branch of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

“We were trying to get Jobeth, Minister Coleby to give her statement. Because there were statements made in the public domain, but none was made, no complaint, no official complaint was made.

“The officer’s alleging that he was struck. And I think she was making some allegations as well.

“I want to hear what her allegations were. I said let me take myself out of it.

“They do the investigation and then make the recommendation to me.

“I do want to believe that she did make an allegation. Like I said, the officer was out sick. So, we…can’t proceed until he is certified to return to work to be interviewed,” Rolle said.

January 27, 2023

Newly appointed Commissioner Clayton Fernander said the matter is closed and the investigations show no evidence that the police officer was struck by Coleby-Davis. “… We deal with facts and evidence. That’s what we deal with and that’s what you need to go to court.”

The officer will reportedly return to his duties as an officer of the RBPF.