They offer money for information about the husband of the protagonist of “Tiger King”

The daughters of Jack “Don” Lewis, who was married to Carole Baskin -one of the protagonists of the popular documentary series Netflix “Tiger King”– When he disappeared more than 20 years ago, they announced this Monday a reward of 100,000 dollars to whoever provides information that clarifies the case.

The case, practically forgotten after 23 years, again captured the attention of the public and the authorities after the protagonist of the series, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, Known as “Tiger King” or “Joe Exotic”, it was claimed that Baskin had killed Lewis and thrown his body to the tigers.

“Joe Exotic” is serving a 22-year prison sentence for trying to hire a hit man to assassinate Baskin, the owner of a shelter for big cats near Tampa, Florida.

The claim made by Maldonado-Passage in the series forced Hillsborough County authorities to reopen the investigation into the disappearance of Lewis, who was last seen in 1997, a day before an announced trip to Costa Rica.

The lawyer for the family of the disappeared, John Phillips, announced the reward today and urged whoever has conclusive information to reveal it in exchange for that money.

She also said she has filed a legal action for Baskin to tell “what really happened” with Lewis, who was a co-owner of Big Cat Rescue, which is still managed by her.

In 2002 Justice declared Lewis dead, while Baskin, maiden name Carole Staris Jones, married Howard Baskin.

“We hope that with these funds, someone will have the courage to come and find them and provide the necessary information to solve the case,” said Donna Pettis, one of the two Lewis daughters, about the reward, in statements to the Tampa media.

Her younger sister, Gale Rathbone, said she continues to miss her father and wants an answer to his disappearance.

In a statement, attorney Phillips He stressed that the family does not agree with how the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (Florida) has investigated the disappearance of Lewis and that is why they will carry out their own investigation.

Sheriff Chad Chronister reopened the case last March following the claims of “Joe Exotic” and has received many alleged leads but none conclusive.

In June, Chad Chronister confirmed in an interview with a Tampa television channel that Lewis’s will was forged more than twenty years ago.

The sheriff pointed out to Channel 10 in Tampa that the will by which Baskin acquired Lewis’s fortune and property was forged, according to two experts.

That was something that the police “already knew”, but the problem is that the possible legal repercussions for falsifying that document have already expired.

“Despite this, this situation adds another shadow of suspicion without a doubt,” added Chronister.

The documentary series “Tiger King”, released on March 20, was one of the great successes of the platform during the quarantine caused by the coronavirus.

The production delves into the trafficking of felines and other exotic animals in the southern United States, specifically on tiger zoos in Florida and Oklahoma and in the lives of those who run them and especially in their rivalry.

In June Carole Baskin gained control of a 20-acre zoo in Garvin County, Oklahoma owned by “Tiger King.”

Baskin had sued Exotic over a dispute over the use of intellectual property in making use of the name and brand of the Big Cats Rescue animal sanctuary. He was sentenced to pay a million dollars in 2011.

Baskins sued Exotic a second time in 2016, accusing him of transferring the property in his mother’s name to avoid having to pay creditors, after which a federal judge in Oklahoma City ordered it to be turned over.

He was later convicted of trying to get a hitman to kill Baskin.

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