Tiger King: Florida Sheriff Reopens Case Of Carole Baskin’s Missing Husband

At a time when most Americans are trapped inside thanks to the Chinese coronavirus, there’s one TV show that is taking the country by storm.  Netflix’s brand-new documentary “Tiger King” is keeping tens of millions of Americans occupied as they continue to wait out this seemingly never-ending quarantine.

“Tiger King” tells the fascinating story of bizarre people connected with exotic pets trade. The documentary has gotten so popular that it’s even revived a long-forgotten cold case, the disappearance of millionaire Don Lewis.

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Watching “Tiger King” is like watching a contest between the most eccentric human beings alive.  Of the list of colorful characters, there’s Joe Exotic (born Joe Schreibvogel), a gay methamphetamine-addicted tiger breeder who married two men at the same time, released a dozen country music videos, and carries a pair of pistols on his hip — packing heat not for protection from the tigers, but from other people.  Joe Exotic has a rivalry with Carole Baskin, administrator of the Big Cat Rescue wildlife sanctuary in Florida because Baskin constantly tried to shut down Exotic’s big cat operations.

Exotic attempted to have Baskin murdered, not once but twice, a central outlandish part of the year’s most outlandish documentary.

Baskin’s millionaire husband Don Lewis mysteriously vanished in 1997. Joe Exotic claims that Baskin not only murdered Lewis for his money but then disposed of his body by feeding him to her tigers. This claim is a central reason why “Tiger King” has proven to be such a profoundly popular show, akin to watching a train wreck in slow motion.

According to law enforcement, Exotic’s claim may not be too farfetched.  On Monday, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced that he would re-open the case and asked the public for any information that would help the search for Don Lewis or his remains.

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How much help the
sheriff can expect from the public is anyone’s guess, although it’s a good bet
that plenty of people will call in to repeat Joe Exotic’s claim that Baskin’s
tigers ate Lewis decades ago.

Baskin herself denies these claims, saying it is “the most ludicrous of all lies.” She further argues that “when [Lewis] disappeared, I did everything I could to assist the police. I encouraged them to check out the rumors from Costa Rica, and separately I hired a private investigator.” The investigator, like the authorities, found nothing, and to this day the case remains unsolved.

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Although Joe Exotic must certainly be thrilled that police are re-investigating Baskin for her husband’s disappearance, Exotic is currently serving time in prison himself.  He was given a sentence of 22 years for plotting to murder Baskin, as well as for the numerous abuses of the exotic animals he owned for decades. Exotic’s private zoo has since been closed and the animals were sold off to South Carolinian businessman Jeff Lowe, who has a criminal past himself.  Lowe was convicted of mail fraud after embezzling millions of dollars from a charity.

Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.