The Unraveling of the Mystery Surrounding Carole Baskin and Don Lewis
Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue and one of the prominent figures in Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King,” has been in the public eye for years. After the release of the docuseries, a lot of people started to question the veracity of her statements regarding the whereabouts of her husband, Don Lewis. Lewis, who was declared dead in 2002, went missing in 1997 under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind his wife and children. And ever since his disappearance, Baskin has been the center of attention, with people accusing her of killing her husband to acquire his fortune. The mystery surrounding Lewis’s disappearance is a complex one, and we’ll try to unravel it in this article.
Don Lewis’s Disappearance
Don Lewis was a self-made millionaire and the co-founder of Wildlife on Easy Street, a sanctuary where he and his wife, Carole Baskin, kept numerous exotic animals. The couple’s relationship was far from perfect, and several people close to them, including employees, cited marital problems, particularly after Baskin’s affair with a volunteer named Jay Baykal. Lewis’s daughter, Donna Pettis, saw the strained relationship between her father and step-mother, and in a recent interview with People, she stated that her father was preparing for a divorce at the time of his disappearance.
On the morning of August 18th, 1997, Don Lewis left his home to head to his office at Wildlife on Easy Street. He was last seen by his handyman, Kenny Farr, who claimed that Lewis was planning to take a trip to Costa Rica. However, despite numerous searches and investigations, Don Lewis was never found, and his disappearance remains unsolved.
Carole Baskin’s Story
Carole Baskin, who was married to Don Lewis for 11 years, claims to have no knowledge of her husband’s disappearance. Her version of events is that Don Lewis left their home without warning, and she assumed that he went to Costa Rica, where he owned property. In a statement to police, Baskin stated that her husband was becoming increasingly erratic and that he had threatened her before his disappearance.
However, there are several complicated subplots to Baskin’s story. In “Tiger King,” Joe Exotic, a rival big-cat owner, accuses Baskin of killing her husband and feeding him to her tigers. Exotic alleges that Baskin forged Lewis’s will to acquire his fortune and his property. The docuseries shows a copy of the will that Lewis’s family members believe to be a forgery, as it contained spelling errors and stylistic inconsistencies that were out of character for Lewis.
Furthermore, a former employee of Wildlife on Easy Street, Anne McQueen, claimed that Baskin was physically abusive to her husband and that she attempted to take out a restraining order against her. McQueen also claimed that Baskin threatened to kill her husband on numerous occasions. Several other employees have come forward with similar allegations, but Baskin has denied all accusations.
The Investigation
Despite numerous searches and investigations, Don Lewis has never been found. The initial police investigation was criticized for being inadequate, and the case was closed in 2002, with police citing a lack of evidence. However, in recent years, the case has been reopened, with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office asking the public for any information that could help solve the mystery.
Additionally, the case has sparked renewed public interest, which has led to several true-crime podcasts and documentaries searching for answers. In a recent podcast called “Joe Exotic: Tiger King,” Exotic and his team launched an investigation into the disappearance of Don Lewis, and they claimed to have found new evidence, citing eyewitness accounts that claimed to have seen Baskin’s van at the property where Lewis’s plane was parked on the night of his disappearance.
Conclusion
The mystery of Don Lewis’s disappearance is a complex one, with numerous twists and turns that make it difficult to solve. Baskin has repeatedly denied any involvement in her husband’s disappearance, but several people close to the couple have come forward with disturbing allegations about their relationship. While no concrete evidence has been found yet, the case is still open, and new leads are being pursued regularly. The truth about what happened to Don Lewis may never be known, but the public’s fascination with the case ensures that it will remain in the headlines for the foreseeable future.
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