The family of Carole Baskin's ex-husband has spoken out after interviews have resurfaced in which Baskin claims he is "alive and well".
As per the New York Post, the Tiger King star's ex-husband, Don Lewis, disappeared in 1997 just months after he filed for a restraining order against his then-wife.
The hit Netflix documentary Tiger King took the world by storm in 2020, and one aspect that gripped viewers was the fate of Lewis, with some individuals featured in the documentary - including Joe Exotic - suggesting that Baskin had killed him.
However, during the lead-up for the second season, Baskin appeared on the British talk show This Morning where she made the claims that homeland security had found her ex-husband "alive and well" in Costa Rica.
Baskin would reportedly reiterate these claims to The Post via email.
But the Hillsborough Country Sheriff's Office disputed these claims, telling TMZ they had not received such information from federal agencies and that the investigation into his whereabouts - after he was declared dead in 2002 - is still ongoing.
The family of Lewis has since spoken to the New York Post about the claims that Lewis is still alive, with his three daughters - Donna Pettis, Lynda Sanchez, and Gale Rathbone - disputing what Baskin said during the interview.
"In the past few days, we’ve learned of recent news articles being published claiming that our Dad, Jack Donald Lewis, has been found ‘alive and well,’ in Costa Rica," the daughters wrote to The Post.
"While we would certainly welcome the good news of our dad being found alive, it’s just simply not true. In late 1997, we were notified by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department that a report existed from US Customs stating that our Dad had been seen in Costa Rica."
The daughters revealed that Pettis, the eldest daughter, traveled to Costa Rica with her husband in 1997 to look for her father. The same report was shown in the second season of Tiger King and the daughters believe it is being used to "fill a different narrative" as to what happened to Lewis.
The statement concluded: "Our father is still listed as a missing person on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department is still actively working on our dad’s case, and we are in constant communication with them as they continue to move forward."
Joe Exotic - who is now serving 21 years behind bars after hiring two men to kill Baskin - also disputed the claims on social media, with a rather simple comment of "No he is not" under a news article about the claims that Lewis is still alive.
