Disappearance of Don Lewis

Don Lewis was a native of Dade City, Florida.[4] By 1981, he was a self-made millionaire through his real estate and used car businesses.[4] Lewis was married to his first wife, Gladys Lewis Cross,[5] and had three daughters and an adopted son.[4] In January 1981, Lewis met Carole Murdock (née Stairs Jones) on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa, on a night when she fled her house after being attacked by her abusive first husband, Michael Murdock.[6][7] Murdock and Lewis began having an affair while both were still married.[7] She became one of his many girlfriends and substantially grew his wealth by helping him buy and sell real estate in 1984.[4] Lewis and Murdock divorced each of their spouses and married in 1991.[8] The following year, the couple co-founded Wildlife on Easy Street (now called Big Cat Rescue), an animal sanctuary for big cats in Tampa.[9] The two clashed over how to run Wildlife on Easy Street. He wanted to breed the cats and operate it as a business, while she wanted it to be a charity.[10]

According to Murdock, who remarried in 2004 and took the name Baskin, Lewis was obsessed with sex and would frequently fly to Costa Rica to engage in affairs – especially when she was menstruating.[10][11] Lewis told family members and friends that he was planning to eventually move to Costa Rica.[4] In early 1997, Lewis began transferring ownership of his properties in Florida to a Costa Rican company he controlled.[1] In the days leading up to his disappearance, Lewis had bought a plane ticket to Costa Rica and was loading equipment onto a truck destined for Miami.[12]

Baskin has claimed that Lewis's mental health had been deteriorating, and he had begun rummaging in dumpsters and hoarding vehicles and junk.[10] She said he was losing his short-term memory and was sometimes disoriented, and she suspected he was developing Alzheimer's disease.[10] However, Lewis's former personal attorney and a former business associate have disputed this characterization.[10] In July 1997, Lewis filed a request for a restraining order against his wife, claiming she had threatened to kill him and had hidden his gun to prevent him from protecting himself; this request was rejected.[13] Baskin claims that he filed the restraining order because she would haul away some of his junk property whenever he visited Costa Rica.[11] Lewis continued to live with his wife afterwards, despite having sought a restraining order against her.[2] Lewis had told his wife multiple times that he wanted a divorce, but she has said she thought he was not serious about it.[1]

Lewis's van was found at the Pilot Country Airport (pictured in 2016).

Lewis disappeared on August 18, 1997, after leaving his home to make an early-morning delivery around 6:00 a.m.[1][2] On August 20, his white 1989 Dodge Ram Van was found at the Pilot Country Airport in Spring Hill, Florida, 40 miles (64 km) away from the sanctuary.[2][4] At the time of his disappearance, Lewis owned several planes and was known to sometimes fly them even though his private pilot licence was suspended.[1] The keys to the van were found on the floorboard and the van had been parked for a couple of days.[2] No evidence was found within the van.[2]

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office "found no sign of foul play" at the Wildlife on Easy Street sanctuary and visited the Costa Rican town of Bagaces, where Lewis owned a 200-acre (81-hectare) park, as part of their investigation.[2][4][14] The investigation in Costa Rica lasted five days.[1] In Costa Rica, investigators found indications that Lewis engaged in extramarital affairs and questionable business practices.[4] They also found that two of Lewis's ocelots had recently been shipped out, but their whereabouts were unknown.[2] None of Lewis's credit cards have been used since his disappearance.[4]

Lewis left behind holdings estimated at more than $5 million, leading to a legal dispute between Baskin and Lewis's children.[4] Lewis was declared legally dead in 2002.[15] Most of his estate was left to Baskin.[13] In 2004, Baskin refused to take a polygraph related to the investigation, as advised by her attorney.[12] Lewis's children have volunteered to take polygraphs.[1][12] By 2005, authorities leaned away from the theory that Lewis disappeared on his own.[12] No one has ever been arrested or charged with a crime in relation to the case.[9]

In 2020, using the popularity of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister appealed to the public for legitimate leads or evidence for the case.[16] Since the release of the series, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has received six tips a day related to Lewis's disappearance.[14] Chronister expressed his belief that a former employee of Wildlife on Easy Street that had a sour relationship with either Lewis or Baskin will step forward with evidence.[9] Chronister reiterated that his department does not "have any type of evidence, not one piece, that suggests that [Lewis] was killed" or that a crime was even committed.[9][14] He also stated his opinion that Tiger King was spun for entertainment.[17] The case is still open as of 2021.[18]

In December 1998, Pam Lambert of People magazine wrote that there was "a wealth of suspects and scenarios, but precious little evidence" in Lewis's disappearance.[4] The third episode of Tiger King covered multiple theories surrounding the disappearance.[5] Lewis's children have pushed a theory that Baskin fed Lewis to the tigers at the sanctuary, and have criticized investigators for not running a DNA test on a meat grinder on the property.[4] However, the meat grinder was removed from the sanctuary weeks before Lewis's disappearance.[9] Baskin reacted to the allegations saying that there would be human bones as remains if the tigers had eaten Lewis.[4] Baskin expressed her disappointment about the theories to Lambert, saying, "Can you imagine having people think you killed your husband or wife and not being able to prove otherwise? Without a body, there is nothing I can do to clear my name."[4]

Baskin has had a long-running feud with the former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, who goes by the nickname Joe Exotic.[19] Exotic has promoted an unsubstantiated theory that Baskin was involved in the disappearance of Lewis.[18] He created a music video entitled "Here Kitty Kitty" that featured a Baskin-lookalike feeding raw meat to tigers.[5] Exotic has also promoted an alternative theory that Lewis is buried in a septic tank at the sanctuary,[20] but a septic tank was not installed on the property until years after Lewis's disappearance.[9] Other unofficial theories covered by Tiger King include Lewis flying to Costa Rica and living his life under a new identity, or that his plane crashed on the way to Costa Rica.[20] After Tiger King was released, several Internet memes targeted Baskin for her speculated involvement in Lewis's disappearance.[5]

• List of people who disappeared