Family of Carol Baskin’s Husband Denies Claim That He Has Been Discovered ‘Alive And Well’

Jack Donald Lewis and Carole Baskin were married in 1991. Unfortunately, six years after their marriage, Lewis disappeared without a trace. Nobody knew why he disappeared, and it was announced that he had passed away. However, now there are speculations that Lewis is ‘alive and well’.

The family of Donald Lewis is denying rumors that their father has been discovered ‘alive and well.’ The allegations gained attention this week after a Carole Baskin interview from 2001 went viral.

Baskin’s longstanding nemesis Joe Exotic was the focus of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King, which largely emphasized the enigmatic events surrounding his disappearance. The main character repeatedly implied that Baskin had killed Lewis and given his body parts to the tigers in her sanctuary.

Despite Baskin’s denial of the accusations, a lot of viewers still believe that she was somehow connected to Lewis’ disappearance. Baskin asserted that Lewis, who was purportedly living in Costa Rica as far back as 2002, had been in communication with the Department of Homeland Security during an interview with the UK talk show This Morning in 2021.

Baskin cited an episode of Tiger King from the second season wherein a fictitious DHS letter said that Lewis had been discovered residing in Central America. Donna Pettis, Lynda Sanchez, and Gale Rathbone stated the claims were “simply not true.” The daughter took the initiative and wrote in a statement to New York Post about her father.

“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. 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. This report prompted Donna, the oldest daughter of Don Lewis, and her husband Tim, to travel to Costa Rica in November of 1997 to look for Don Lewis. This was the same report that was shown in ‘Tiger King 2’ that is now being used to fill a different narrative as to what happened to our father.”

Lewis’ family stated that they are continuing to collaborate with law enforcement in an effort to learn more and that their father is still classified as missing on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office also informed The Post that they have yet to learn anything that would indicate where Don Lewis is and that “the investigation into his disappearance remains a priority.” What do you think about Don Lewis? Is he alive? For further updates stay tuned to Thirsty.

What’s your take on it? Sound off in the comments.