Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Breaking new information in the Lynette Hooker investigation is raising major questions about Brian Hooker’s timeline of the night his wife vanished in the Bahamas. Sources close to the investigation say that Lynette Hooker was dead before 8 p.m. on April 4, 2026, which would mean she was already dead before Brian’s story about a dinghy accident, a missing dry bag, lost passports, and an hours-long float to Marsh Harbour ever began.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh breaks down the newest timeline development in the suspected murder investigation, including evidence that Lynette made it back to the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, signs of a fight and foul play onboard, and why Lynette’s Apple Watch could become a critical piece of evidence in determining her final moments. Ashleigh is also joined by retired Coast Guard Investigative Service agent Eric Gempp, who helped investigate the Nathan Carman “murder on the high seas” case, to discuss the parallels between the two cases, the importance of Brian Hooker’s earliest statements, and how federal investigators build a no-body case at sea.

Sixteen children were found inside a rural Hamden, Ohio home in conditions officials described as “pure evil,” and four adults inside the family are now charged: Gary Siders Sr., 73; his wife, Christina Siders, 67; their son, Gary Siders Jr., 36; and his wife, Elizabeth Siders, 33. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh is joined by retired Riverside County Detective Thomas Salisbury, the detective who helped rescue the 13 Turpin children from their California house of horrors, to discuss why he believes the Ohio case may be even worse and what investigators may be doing now.

Explosive new lies are surfacing in the Lynette Hooker investigation after sources with knowledge of the case said evidence shows Lynette made it back to the couple’s sailboat before she vanished. Now, Brian Hooker’s story about the dinghy, the dry bag, the missing passports, the so-called helpless float to Marsh Harbour, and his alleged search for Lynette are all facing new scrutiny. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks with Lynette’s friend Blaine Stevenson about the new boat evidence, Brian’s alleged lies, the missing passport mystery, and Facebook messages Brian sent to one of Lynette’s childhood friends in the days after she vanished.

Bombshell new evidence in the Lynette Hooker investigation suggests Brian Hooker’s story about what happened the night his wife vanished in the Bahamas was a lie. According to Lynette Hooker’s family, she did not fall off the back of the dinghy as Brian claimed. Instead, sources with knowledge of the investigation say evidence shows Lynette made it back to the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, where there were signs of a fight, evidence of foul play, and evidence that Lynette was dead on board.

Just days after Nancy Guthrie vanished, a fake Bitcoin ransom scammer tried to exploit her family’s worst nightmare. Five months later, on July 2, Derrick Callella, a 42-year-old man from Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty after prosecutors said he sent Bitcoin-related ransom messages to Nancy Guthrie’s family after she vanished and after an earlier ransom demand had already been made. Derrick Callella is expected to receive 5 years probation, not prison, when he is sentenced on Sept. 10.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by former homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy, author of The Book of Murder and host of the podcast In The Well on MK True Crime, to discuss whether this punishment fits the crime and what the case could mean for scammers who target grieving families during active criminal investigations.