ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The family of a Florida man who disappeared in 1997 and who appeared on the hit TV series “Tiger King,” has hired a lawyer and is offering $100,000 in exchange for information to help solve the case.
Attorney John Phillips held a news conference in Tampa Monday and announced an independent investigation into Don Lewis’ disappearance. He also said that on behalf of the Lewis family, he’s filed a lawsuit against Lewis’ second wife Carole Baskin in an attempt to depose her and get her to speak on the record. He and the family have also paid for Tampa-area billboards asking for information in the case.
Lewis vanished a day before a scheduled trip to Costa Rica and was never found. He was declared legally dead in 2002. He and Baskin started the animal sanctuary, which later became Big Cat Rescue Corp. in Tampa, Florida.
Three of Lewis’ daughters were at the news conference. Lewis’ youngest daughter Gale Rathbone, expressed gratitude for those interested in the case.
“Amazingly, our little family tragedy has become your tragedy. Our search for closure and truth has become your mission also,” she said. “We all know by now that (Lewis) was not a perfect man. But do only the perfect among us deserve justice?”