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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Vicki Newman

Tiger King: Police delving deep into 'murder' of Carole Baskin's husband Don Lewis

Police are delving deep into the disappearance of Carole Baskin's first husband Don Lewis.

Ever since Netflix documentary Tiger King : Murder, Mayhem and Madness landed, police investigating the case say they've received a number of new tips, and they're looking into every one.

Joe Exotic, the eccentric focus of the documentary, claims that Carole, who runs sanctuary Big Cat Rescue, murdered her husband and fed him to her tigers.

She denied this and believes he fled to Costa Rica, where he travelled frequently.

She has also lashed out at the documentary, saying it's filled with "lies and innuendos".

Joe is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for attempting to facilitate the murder of his rival Carole, as well as a string of animal cruelty charges.

Don Lewis disappeared in 1997 (Netflix)

He protests his innocence too and is filing a new civil suit.

After being inundated with calls, the sheriff's department investigating the 1997 disappearance of Don say they're going through all the evidence from the beginning once again.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister says his team have been getting an average of six calls a day since the documentary landed, with people claiming they have a new lead on the investigation.

He told The Sun Online : "Most of them are theories. So far there’s no viable leads, but I’m hoping that will change.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister (Hillsborough Sheriffs Department)

"One thing I think we can all agree on is when things become popular, they will likely feel more comfortable, and I’m hoping that someone will now, 23 years later, feel more comfortable to come forward and provide that missing information that we need to solve this case."

Don disappeared in August 1997 and was legally declared dead five years later in 2002.

One of the big focuses in the documentary was that Don's Power Of Attorney stated that Carole would gain control of his estate in "the event of his death or disappearance".

Joe and others claimed this was suspicious, but Carole later explained it, saying that Don travelled to Costa Rica for one week every month and that he told her about people going missing all the time, and that that's why it was included in his Power Of Attorney.

Carole Baskin denies killing her husband (Netflix)

County Sheriff Chronister said of Don: "He had a home in Costa Rica, he had a girlfriend in Costa Rica, he had a property manager there, he had shady business dealings with individuals there."

Carole says she was due to go to Costa Rica with Don, but that he left alone that morning and she never saw him again.

Don's van was discovered at a private airport, but none of the plans were missing and neither of Don's passports had been flagged, apparently proving he never left the United States.

The Sheriff says he sent officers to Costa Rica to speak to people who knew Don, and that they all said they hadn't seen him.

The case was never closed.

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