Cadaver dogs helping with search for American woman missing in Bahamas, police say
The Hookers’ boat, “Soulmate,” is seen in Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, April 8, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Cadaver dogs are heading to help with the search for Lynette Hooker, an American woman who’s missing in the Bahamas, according to police.
The K-9 team from the U.S. Coast Guard will be on the ground in Hope Town on Wednesday morning, Advardo Dames, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police, told ABC News.
Lynette Hooker has been missing since she went overboard on a dinghy on the evening of April 4.
When the 55-year-old Michigan woman and her husband, Brian Hooker, departed Hope Town on the Abaco Islands for their yacht, Soulmate, in Elbow Cay, bad weather caused her to fall off the dinghy, her husband told authorities.
Brian Hooker, 58, was arrested on April 8 and questioned by police. He was released on Monday without charges.
Brian Hooker told ABC News on Tuesday that he’s staying in the Bahamas with a “sole focus” of finding his wife, “no matter how likely or unlikely that is.”
He said he was planning “to go back to the boat, and then hire or beg people to help me go find some areas to search.”
Brian Hooker’s attorney did not allow him to answer questions about what happened the night his wife went overboard due to the pending investigation.
When asked if there was anything he wishes he’d done differently, Brian Hooker was emotional, saying, “I will always think there was something I could have done differently. My one job, my one job was to look out for her, and that has not happened. And I’m gonna keep looking out for her now, the best I can.”
ABC News’ Brian Andrews contributed to this report.
Officials visit Nancy Guthrie’s residence, February 25, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(TUCSON, Ariz) — Three-and-a-half weeks after Nancy Guthrie’s abduction, the FBI is reducing its number of personnel in Tucson and relocating its command post to Phoenix, where it has its largest office in Arizona, sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
The FBI will keep agents in Tucson and continue to partner with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, but many agents are returning to Phoenix to work the case from there.
On Wednesday, FBI agents were seen walking Guthrie’s property. For the moment, the sources said there is no additional investigative work the FBI needs to do at the house.
Instead, much of the case is now analytical: perusing Walmart sales receipts and security footage, untangling the mixed sample of DNA found inside the house, and parsing the roughly 1,500 tips that have come in since Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, offered up a $1 million reward on Tuesday.
After the initial surge following the Tuesday Instagram post upping the reward, the number of calls to the sheriff’s department has tapered off, sources said.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Trevor Ault contributed to this report.
Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-TX, speaks during press conference of members of US Congress delegation on July 1, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Text messages appear to show Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales pursuing a relationship with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles — more than a year before she died by suicide.
The messages were provided to ABC News by Santos-Aviles’ widower.
In a series of texts from May of 2024, Gonzales, a married father of six, repeatedly requests “sexy” photos from Santos-Aviles. The aide seems initially hesitant, writing, “you don’t really want a hot picture of me.”
Gonzales continues, saying, “I’m just such a visual person” and “Sorry.”
He also appears to ask Santos-Aviles about her sexual preferences. Santos-Aviles replies to the request by saying, “This is going too far boss,” but appears to engage in flirtation, saying, “how long have you thought I was this hot?”
A final text dates from June of 2024 in which Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, texts Gonzales and several staffers from Regina’s phone, telling them that he is filing for divorce due to the discovery of her messages with Gonzales, texting the group thread: “[S]he’s been having an affair on [him] with your boss Tony Gonzales.” The recipients of those texts include several current staffers, though ABC News has redacted their names and contact information.
The Gonzales campaign has not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment regarding the newly obtained text messages.
Gonzales has denied allegations he engaged in an extramarital affair with a congressional aide who died by suicide last fall — calling on the Uvalde police department to release its report on her death despite objections from her family.
Santos-Aviles, 35, died on Sept. 14, 2025, after she doused herself with an accelerant and set herself ablaze at her home in Uvalde, Texas, Bexar County officials determined.
Adrian Aviles’ lawyer Bobby Barrera told ABC News that his client did not share the text messages with congressional investigators, who are prepared to send a report to the House Ethics Committee as soon as next week.
ABC News has confirmed that Gonzales has been under investigation by the Office of Congressional Conduct, which has already completed its probe. Due to its rules, the OCC may not transmit a report against a member of Congress 60 days prior to an election. Gonzales is in a primary contest on March 3, so the report is expected to be transmitted to the House Ethics Committee the following day.
Last week, Gonzales told ABC News that “Ms. Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place.”
The controversy is now attracting the attention of Gonzales’ Republican colleagues. This afternoon, Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert called on Gonzales to resign. She was later joined by Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Texas Republican Brandon Gill and Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna called on Gonzales to drop his bid for reelection.
When asked about their statements by reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he doesn’t think “it’s time to call for resignation” and that “you have to allow investigations to play out and all the facts to come out.” The Speaker currently has a one-vote majority.
High U.S. temperatures through the week (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — As a deep freeze continued Tuesday from the Northeast to the Southeast, Southern California and other parts of the West are expected to see another day of balmy weather.
Some areas in the West are poised to break daily high temperature records. Burbank, California, is expected to hit 87 on Tuesday and Long Beach could hit 89.
Other parts of the West, including San Diego, Portland, Oregon, and Great Falls, Montana, could also surpass daily record-high temperature records on Tuesday.
On Monday, several cities in the West set new daily high temperature records, including Escondido, California, which hit 92 degrees, and Phoenix, Arizona, which saw temperatures climb to 85.
The warm weather in the West is expected to continue on Wednesday. While not expected to see a record-breaking daily temperature, Los Angeles is forecast to reach 89 degrees.
Wind advisories are in place for parts of Southern California, especially along the mountain ranges from southeast Los Angeles down to the Mexico border. San Bernardino, Riverside, Corona and Anaheim are expected to see gusts up to 45 mph and isolated gusts of up to 55 mph from 4 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday through noon on Thursday.
The warm weather in the West will slowly spread through the middle of the country next week.
Meanwhile, some areas of Florida will get a break from the cold before cooler temperatures return on Thursday and Friday. Orlando is forecast to top 70 on Wednesday.
Much of Florida remained under a freeze warning on Tuesday morning. A cold weather advisory was also in place for Miami.
On Monday, several cities throughout the Southeast set daily low temperature records, including Gainesville, Florida, which recorded a low of 22; Fayetteville, Arkansas, which saw the temperature plummet to 12; and Greensboro, North Carolina, which got down to 3.
Freezing temperatures are expected to continue in other parts of the East and Northeast this week as another cold blast is expected on Wednesday, Thursday and into the weekend.
