Here are 6 theories about Carole Baskin's husband's disappearance

The news that Carole Baskin's 'dead' ex-husband is allegedly still 'alive and well' has stunned the entire world. Strangely, nobody really paid attention until this week when Don Lewis's alleged residence in Costa Rica was confirmed by the Tiger King star. For those unaware, Carole Baskin's ex-husband left his Florida home in the summer of 1997 at six in the morning for a delivery and was never heard from again. Five years later, he was ruled legally dead. Furthermore, the mystery surrounding Don's disappearance was a major component of the well-known Tiger King Netflix documentary, leading many viewers to surmise various ideas and believe it was a product of a big conspiracy. Here are some of those theories:

1. Carole killed Don

The most ridiculous notion is that Carole Baskin killed her ex-husband, although there is no evidence to support this. And she has consistently denied any participation in Don's abduction. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="615"] Image credit: The Mirror/ Netflix US/ AFP via Getty Images[/caption] However, Joe Exotic, who falsely said she fed her ex-husband to the tigers to ensure no one would locate the body, is one individual who is certain this is real. He even composed a pretty awful song about the purported crime, Here Kitty Kitty. Another hypothesis holds that Don's body is stashed away at Carole Baskin's sanctuary in the septic tank. Lewis' kids have made the claim that Carole fed Lewis to the tigers. But the tiger lover has consistently denied killing her husband, calling the claims "totally outlandish," and has talked about how painful they were. Also read: Carole Baskin Claimed Her ‘Dead’ Ex-Husband Don Lewis Is Still Alive

2. Don stole the money and fled

There have also been rumors that Don was about to divorce Carole and escaped to Costa Rica to prevent her from inheriting his money. In addition, Carole reported that Don's final words to her were that he was heading to Costa Rica to transport vehicles. Even Don's mechanic insisted that he had requested him to accompany him.

3. Mental Illness

Carole described Lewis' state of mind at the time of his disappearance as "paranoid" in a podcast interview with Katie Piper. According to her, "The psychiatrist diagnosed him as being bipolar and having altered mental status. He was getting extremely paranoid and at that time he filed the restraining order." [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="615"] Image credit: The Mirror/ Netflix[/caption]

4. Don perished in a plane crash

Many people think Don passed away during the flight to Costa Rica because he had a fleet of small aircraft. At the airport, his van was also discovered to be vacant. According to the documentary, it is impossible to fly certain kinds of aircraft so far without stopping. But there are no flight logs to prove he'd flown there. He never flew legally, according to Carole, because he had lost his pilot's license. Instead, he chose to fly below the radar and avoided logging his flights to avoid being discovered.

5. Don was thrown out from the aircraft

It has been controversially claimed by Don's attorney that he was choked and thrown from a plane. However, it is unclear who would have the motive to do this. Don was allegedly murdered, according to Joseph Fritz, who believes that Don was too attached to his animals to abandon them. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="615"] Image credit: The Mirror/ Netflix[/caption]

6. Jeff Lowe is Don Lewis

The most popular belief is that Don is actually fellow big cat owner Jeff Lowe. Tiger King prominently includes Lowe since, in 2016, Joe Exotic gave Jeff possession of his enormous cat zoo. Moreover, some of their followers posted side-by-side images of the two of them and noted how similar they appear to be. But this conspiracy theory doesn't make much sense. Naturally, Jeff refuted these allegations right away.