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| Disappearance of Don Lewis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jack Donald Lewis (1938-04-30)30 April 1938 |
| Disappeared | 18 August 1997 (aged 59) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Status | Missing for 27 years, 4 months and 11 days |
| Died | August 18, 2002 (legal death) |
Jack Donald Lewis (April 30, 1938 – legal d. August 18, 2002) disappeared on August 18, 1997 after leaving his home in Tampa, Florida, United States. No evidence of Lewis being killed has surfaced and he was declared legally dead in 2002. As of 2020, the case is still open. Lewis' disappearance was covered in 2020 crime documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, which focused on a feud between Lewis' second wife Carole Baskin and private zoo owner Joe Exotic.
Background
Don Lewis was a native of Dade City, Florida, United States. Lewis was a self-made millionaire by 1981 through the real estate and used cars businesses. By that time, Lewis was married to his first wife Gladys and had three daughters and an adopted son. That year, Lewis first met Carole Baskin on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa, Florida when she was nineteen years old. Baskin and Lewis engaged in an affair while both were still married. Baskin became one of Lewis' many girlfriends and she substantially grew his wealth by helping him buy and sell real estate in 1984. The couple divorced each of their spouses and married in 1991.
In 1992, Lewis and Baskin co-founded Wildlife on Easy Street (now called Big Cat Rescue), a big cats animal sanctuary in Tampa. According to Baskin and the 2020 crime documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Lewis would take monthly flights to Costa Rica to deal with his sex addiction. Lewis told family members and friends that he was planning to eventually move to Costa Rica. In July 1997, Lewis filed a restraining order against Baskin, claiming that Baskin had threatened to kill him; the restraining order was rejected. Lewis continued to live with Baskin afterwards.
Investigation
Lewis disappeared on August 18, 1997. On August 20, 1997, Lewis' blue 1989 Dodge van was found at the Pilot Country Airport in Springhill, Florida, forty miles away from the sanctuary. The keys to the van were found on the floorboard and the van had been parked for a couple of days. No evidence was found within the van. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office "found no sign of foul play" at the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary and visited Costa Rica, where Lewis owned 200-acre park, as part of their investigation. In Costa Rica, investigators only found indications that Lewis engaged in extramarital affairs and illegal business practices. None of Lewis' credit cards have been used since his disappearance.
Lewis left behind holdings estimated at more than $5 million, leading to a legal dispute between Baskin and Lewis' children. Lewis was declared legally dead in 2002. Most of Lewis' estate was left to Baskin. In 2011, Baskin refused to take a polygraph that was related to the investigation. Following the Tiger King series, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister appealed to the public for legitimate leads or evidence. Chronister reiterated that his department doesn't "have any type of evidence, not one piece, that suggests that was killed." The case is still open as of 2020.
References
- ^ "Disappearance on Easy Street". WTSP. November 1, 2002. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ Pam Lambert (December 7, 1998). "Too Purrfect". People. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- Robert Moor (September 3, 2019). "Joe Exotic bred lions, tigers, and ligers at his roadside zoo. He was a modern Barnum who found an equally extraordinary nemesis". Intelligencer. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ "The Secret". Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Season 1. Episode 3. March 20, 2020.
- Sean Williams (June 22, 2019). "Joe Exotic Built a Wild Animal Kingdom. He Was the Most Dangerous Predator of Them All". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- Gina Tron (March 26, 2020). "What Happened To Carole Baskin's Former Husband, Who Vanished In 1997?". Oxygen. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- Douglas Charles (March 31, 2020). "Carole Baskin's Boyfriend After Her Husband Disappeared Also Filed For A Chilling Restraining Order Against Her". BroBible. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ "Tiger King: Who is Carole Baskin's first husband Jack 'Don' Lewis and when did he disappear?". Metro. March 19, 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
- ^ Audra D. S. Burch (April 1, 2020). "'Tiger King': What Happened to Carole Baskin's Husband, Don Lewis?". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- "'Tiger King' subject Carole Baskin slams Netflix doc, calls it 'salacious and sensational'". EW.com.
- Christopher Spata (March 31, 2020). "Hillsborough sheriff says tips are coming in 'Tiger King' missing millionaire case". Tampa Bay Times.
- "Police ask for new leads in disappearance of Don Lewis, husband of "Tiger King" star Carole Baskin". CBS News. March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.