Tiger King’s Carole Baskin claimed missing hubby alive in Costa Rica

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For Tiger King star Carole Baskin, it might be a purrrr-fect ending.

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A 2021 interview in which the bizarre animal activist claims her missing ex-husband, Don Lewis, is alive and well living his best life in Costa Rica is making the rounds online.

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Baskin emerged as the villainess in the smash-hit 2020 docu-series that focused on her nemesis Joe Exotic’s battles with the Tampa woman, who wanted to shut him down.

It was broadly hinted by Joe Exotic that she had murdered her hubby, who was declared legally dead in 2002.

But viewers of Britain’s ITV’s This Morning gabfest heard in November 2021 from her that Lewis was alive.

“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 [Jorge] Fernandez, which means this had to have happened after 2002 because Homeland Security wasn’t even around until 2002,” Baskin told ITV.

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She added: “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.”

If he is alive, Don Lewis would be 84 years old.

However, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office torpedoed the feline fancier’s comments.

“We have not received any communication from our federal partners that confirms the location of missing person Mr. Don Lewis,” Fentress Fountain, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, told the New York Post.

“The investigation into Don Lewis’ disappearance remains a priority for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as do all missing person cases.”

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Lewis disappeared in 1997, and his kooky ex offered a litany of possibilities. Joe Exotic added more.

Baskin and her new husband, Howard, did not appear in the Tiger King sequel.

Joe Exotic — currently in prison for hiring a hitman to murder Baskin — suggested in the original Tiger King that Baskin fed Don Lewis to her own big cats.

The Oklahoma Tiger King’s lawyer jumped in Wednesday to torpedo Baskin’s claims.

“During the filming of Tiger King, detailed efforts were made to find Don Lewis. They all failed. He is not alive,” lawyer John M. Phillips posted on Facebook.

“The 2021 report by Carole Baskin was a further unsupported allegation. It’s being republished as if it has veracity. It doesn’t. The story of the Tiger King is filled with lies, set up and misdirection.

“We still await a hearing for Joe’s freedom. The lies and setup are spelled out in his Motion for New Trial. Read it. The work is done.”

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