Netflix has taken a deep dive into true crime recently, and now its documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is prompting local police to take another look at a case that has been cold for decades.
Netflix’s Tiger King tells true stories about private exotic animal collectors all across the US, and they’re filled with just about every sort of twist and turn imaginable: murder, drugs, polygamy, suspiciously-timed tiger maulings, and more. One episode covers the disappearance of Don Lewis, and it’s this mystery that local sheriff Chad Chronister is picking back up.
Carole Baskin’s husband Don Lewis disappeared back in August of 1997. Baskin is the owner of Big Cat Rescue and rival of Tiger King Joe Exotic; she and her husband factor into the documentary because Baskin inherited millions from her husband when he went missing. He’s been presumed dead, though that has never been proven for sure, and many suspect that Baskin had a hand in his death, considering what she stood to gain. Certainly, Joe Exotic had no problem accusing her in the documentary of feeding Lewis’s body to the tigers.
In response to the documentary’s popularity, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister published a post on Twitter asking for people to come forward with any leads they might have concerning Lewis’s disappearance. Tiger King has jumped to the number one spot on Netflix’s internal chart, and with the COVID-19 quarantine in effect, tons of people are surely watching.
Perhaps after all these years, some dedicated media coverage will be just what this cold case needed.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is currently streaming on Netflix.
