Aimee Walker
Carole Baskin claims that her ex-husband has been found alive after going missing decades ago.
Baskin, 61, shot to fame in Netflix’s hugely popular documentary Tiger King, which followed the life of former zookeeper and convicted felon Joe Exotic.
The true crime series followed Exotic’s feud with Baskin as well as the disappearance of her ex-husband Don Lewis – who Exotic claims she murdered.
Baskin has always maintained her ex-husband vanished in August 1997 after a trip to Costa Rica.
He was declared legally dead in 2002, despite no body being discovered or any evidence of his death.
Watch Carole Baskin discuss her husband being alive on Good Morning Britain below…
However, a development in the case alleges that Baskin’s ex-husband is actually alive and well.
Baskin took to Facebook and posted screenshot ‘evidence’ that claims Homeland Security has found her ex-husband.
She wrote: “Here are the details and a copy of the screenshot from Tiger King 2 of the Homeland Security document.”
Baskin went on to say that the evidence has existed for some time, so she’s unsure why people are only just finding out about it now.
She continued: “This aired back in Nov 2021 which was the first I heard about it when I watched Tiger King 2.
“I’ve mentioned it in the more than 60 interviews I’ve done since then, where reporters asked about Don, so I’m surprised everyone in the press is acting like they aren’t aware of it.
“I guess Tiger King 2 wasn’t as popular as the first one that came out just as we all went into lockdown.”
The Big Cat Rescue owner also appeared in an interview on ITV’s This Morning and claimed that her husband is alive and residing in Costa Rica.
She said: “I don’t know how it is that Homeland Security says he’s alive and well in Costa Rica but I’m glad to hear it.
“I didn’t think he was capable of supporting himself.
“He took about a million dollars down to Costa Rica, I had agreed to let him do that so he could prove to himself that he could make a living.”
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Baskin went on to tell the New York Post that she had been unaware of Lewis’ apparent whereabouts until the Tiger King sequel was broadcast.
She said: “I was not aware of it until TK2 aired.”
Baskin claims that the Department of Homeland Security had been in touch with Lewis.
She told the outlet that the letter said that Lewis was ‘alive and well’ in Costa Rica, and could be staying there ‘indefinitely’.
Baskin notes that the document must have been produced after 2002 – when Lewis was alleged to have died – as the department wasn’t founded until later that year.
Baskin says: “They said my husband, Don Lewis, is alive and well in Costa Rica.
“And yet all of this drama has been made about me having something to do with his disappearance when Homeland Security has known where he is.”
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Baskin and her current husband, Howard, also took to their blog and discussed her former spouse’s disappearance further.
In the post, an image of the letter is shown and is marked for ‘official use only’ and ‘law enforcement sensitive’.
However, no date is visible on the letter.
Elsewhere in the blog post, Baskin and her husband questioned why Homeland Security released Lewis’ alleged whereabouts to Netflix.
“Also noteworthy is the document they display from Homeland Security, which was not formed as an agency until 2002, five years after Don Lewis’ disappearance, saying they had information that Don Lewis was alive in Costa Rica,” they wrote.
“Why is this just appearing?”
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Many fans of the show have taken to social media to react to the news.
One person tweeted: “Was I the only one that didn’t know they found Carole Baskin’s husband living his best life in Costa Rica?!”
Another added: “Hold on, I’m seeing people saying that Carole Baskin’s husband was found ALIVE???”
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