Though he was legally declared dead in 2002, Tiger King star Carole Baskin's ex-husband Don Lewis might not have been fed to tigers after all — Baskin has claimed that Homeland Security told her they've found Lewis "alive and well" in Costa Rica.
The couple married in 1991, with Lewis going missing six years later. It was heavily hinted in the first season of the series that Baskin may have been involved in his disappearance, despite her having publicly denied it.
Though she refused to participate in Tiger King 2, (Baskin and current husband Howard have since sued Netflix for using their footage), five follow-up episodes arrived on the streaming service yesterday (November 17) and the ominous murder-mystery has once again been reopened.
In a new interview on ITV's This Morning, the big cat enthusiast discussed her portrayal on the show.
"[Netflix] said, 'We just want your answer on [Lewis' disappearance] so that we can lay that to rest,'" Baskin told the hosts. "That's not what they did; they turned it into this huge mystery."
Apparently, the second season of Tiger King brought about a communication from Homeland Security with the news of her ex-husband being alive and un-murdered in Costa Rica.
"One of the really exciting things that came out of Tiger King 2 is that they produced a letter from Homeland Security, and it says that a special agent in charge with the FBI at Homeland Security reached out to the sheriff's detective George Fernandez — which means this had to have happened after 2002, because Homeland Security wasn't even around until 2002," Baskin explained.
She continued: "They said that my husband Don Lewis is alive and well in Costa Rica. And yet all of this hay has been made about me having something to do with his disappearance, when Homeland Security has known where he is at least since back then."
When asked if she believed Lewis could in fact be alive, Baskin admitted:
I didn't think that he was capable of supporting himself. He took about $1 million USD down into Costa Rica and I had agreed to let him do that, so he could prove to himself that he could make a living. And when we recovered what we could out of that years later, it was only about $80,000 because the investments he had made were so bad. So 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.
It seems like she's just as surprised by the news of a potentially-living Lewis as we are.
All you cool cats and kittens can watch the full interview with Baskin below.
The couple married in 1991, with Lewis going missing six years later. It was heavily hinted in the first season of the series that Baskin may have been involved in his disappearance, despite her having publicly denied it.
Though she refused to participate in Tiger King 2, (Baskin and current husband Howard have since sued Netflix for using their footage), five follow-up episodes arrived on the streaming service yesterday (November 17) and the ominous murder-mystery has once again been reopened.
In a new interview on ITV's This Morning, the big cat enthusiast discussed her portrayal on the show.
"[Netflix] said, 'We just want your answer on [Lewis' disappearance] so that we can lay that to rest,'" Baskin told the hosts. "That's not what they did; they turned it into this huge mystery."
Apparently, the second season of Tiger King brought about a communication from Homeland Security with the news of her ex-husband being alive and un-murdered in Costa Rica.
"One of the really exciting things that came out of Tiger King 2 is that they produced a letter from Homeland Security, and it says that a special agent in charge with the FBI at Homeland Security reached out to the sheriff's detective George Fernandez — which means this had to have happened after 2002, because Homeland Security wasn't even around until 2002," Baskin explained.
She continued: "They said that my husband Don Lewis is alive and well in Costa Rica. And yet all of this hay has been made about me having something to do with his disappearance, when Homeland Security has known where he is at least since back then."
When asked if she believed Lewis could in fact be alive, Baskin admitted:
I didn't think that he was capable of supporting himself. He took about $1 million USD down into Costa Rica and I had agreed to let him do that, so he could prove to himself that he could make a living. And when we recovered what we could out of that years later, it was only about $80,000 because the investments he had made were so bad. So 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.
It seems like she's just as surprised by the news of a potentially-living Lewis as we are.
All you cool cats and kittens can watch the full interview with Baskin below.
