Tiger King Docuseries Could Help Solve Disappearance Of Carole Baskin’s Former Husband

Following the popularity of Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, police are appealing for information about the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s ex-husband, who vanished more than 20 years ago.

Jack Donald Lewis, who was known as Don, was last seen August 18, 1997 and was reportedly declared dead five years later.

In one episode of the Tiger King, Joe Exotic and others suggest Carole may have been responsible for Don’s death, speculating she covered it up by feeding his remains to the tigers at her sanctuary.

Since the release of the series, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister has taken to Twitter to look for new leads on Don’s ‘cold case’.

He tweeted:

Since @netflix and #Covid19 #Quarantine has made #TigerKing all the rage, I figured it was a good time to ask for new leads. #CaroleBaskin #DonLewis #Netflix #Tiger #BigCatRescue #JoeExotic #TigerKingNetflix #HCSO

With all those hashtags, it’s safe to say the sheriff is wanting his tweet to be noticed.

Following the allegations made against her, Carole shared a statement on her sanctuary’s website alleging there are ‘lies and innuendos’ about her involvement in her husband’s disappearance and that Netflix ‘did not care about the truth’.

When the directors of the Netflix documentary Tiger King came to us five years ago they said they wanted to make the big cat version of Blackfish (the documentary that exposed abuse at SeaWorld) that would expose the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs for cub petting exploitation and the awful life the cats lead in roadside zoos and back yards if they survive.

There are not words for how disappointing it is to see that the series not only does not do any of that, but has had the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers. As part of that, it has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don in 1997. The series presents this without any regard for the truth or in most cases even giving me an opportunity before publication to rebut the absurd claims. They did not care about truth. The unsavory lies are better for getting viewers.

While it’s still unknown what exactly happened to Don, hopefully the sheriff’s appeal will bring some new and vital information to light.