Family of Carole Baskin’s ‘dead’ husband break silence on declare he’s ‘alive and well’

Meow!

The claws are coming out throughout the decades-long feud between “Tiger King” star Carole Baskin and the daughters of her “dead” husband Don Lewis.

In a press launch provided to The Post on Friday, Lewis’ offspring — Donna Pettis, Lynda Sanchez, and Gale Rathbone — clap once more at Baskin’s stunning declare that he has been found “alive and well” in Costa Rica.

“It’s simply not true,” the daughters declared, sooner than accusing Baskin of manipulating a letter seen in Netflix’s “Tiger King 2” as a approach to create “a different narrative” about Lewis’ disappearance.

Lewis — who married Big Cat Rescue boss Baskin once more in 1991 — vanished with out a touch in August 1997 and was declared legally lifeless in 2002.

Baskin, 61, has vehemently denied any involvement in her millionaire associate’s mysterious disappearance and has blasted rumors that she put his physique by means of a meat grinder and fed it to tigers at her animal rescue ranch in Tampa, Florida.

In a Zoom interview with The Post on Thursday, Lewis family spokesperson, Jack Smith, moreover blasted Baskin. He talked about her “alive and well” declare reeks of desperation and is a blatant bid to deflect speculation that she would possibly know important particulars about Don’s disappearance.

“I think she’s just trying to do anything she can to clear her name,” Smith talked about, together with that Lewis’ three daughters have been upset alongside along with her assertions.

Lewis’ offspring have prolonged loathed Baskin — nonetheless have stopped in want of saying she was involved of their wealthy dad’s vanishing.

Earlier this week, Baskin was thrust once more into the headlines after resurfaced footage from a November 2021 interview with Britain’s “This Morning” converse current went viral, displaying the animal rights activist saying that Lewis had been found alive.

Baskin acknowledged: “One of the really exciting things that came out of ‘Tiger King 2’ is that they produced a letter from Homeland Security and it says that a special agent in charge with the FBI at Homeland Security reached out to the sheriff’s detective George [Jorge] Fernandez, This had to have happened after 2002 because Homeland Security wasn’t even around until 2002 [when Lewis was declared dead].”

She continued: “They said my husband, Don Lewis, is alive and well in Costa Rica. And yet all of this drama has been made about me having something to do with his disappearance when Homeland Security has known where he is.”

Baskin herself instructed The Post she was unaware of the alleged revelation until the sequel assortment was broadcast in November 2021.

“I was not aware of it until ‘TK2’ aired,” Baskin instructed The Post by approach of piece of email on Wednesday.

While a letter from the Department of Homeland Security is seen in ‘Tiger King 2′, Lewis’ daughters say it doesn’t say their dad is “alive and well.”

They moreover say a separate letter — penned in 1997 — appears on this system, nonetheless doesn’t current definitive proof that Lewis resides.

“In the past few days, we’ve learned of recent news articles being published claiming that our Dad, Jack Donald Lewis, has been found ‘alive and well,’ in Costa Rica,” the daughters wrote in a full assertion provided to The Post.

“While we would certainly welcome the good news of our dad being found alive, it’s just simply not true. In late 1997, we were notified by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department that a report existed from US Customs stating that our Dad had been seen in Costa Rica. This report prompted Donna, the oldest daughter of Don Lewis, and her husband Tim, to travel to Costa Rica in November of 1997 to look for Don Lewis. This was the same report that was shown in ‘Tiger King 2’ that is now being used to fill a different narrative as to what happened to our father.”

The assertion continued: “Our father is still listed as a missing person on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department is still actively working on our dad’s case, and we are in constant communication with them as they continue to move forward.”

Lewis was 59 years outdated on the time he vanished — and might be 84 if he’s nonetheless alive at current.

The Lewis daughters’ assertion jibes with one provided to the Post by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

“We have not received any communication from our federal partners that confirms the location of missing person Mr. Don Lewis,” Fentress Fountain, public knowledge officer, instructed The Post.

“The investigation into Don Lewis’ disappearance remains a priority for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as do all missing person cases.”

In 2020, the Lewis family filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Baskin saying she didn’t talk up all through her look on “Dancing With the Stars” when judges cracked some jokes about her missing hubby.

They accused the Big Cat Rescue Boss of being “complicit” when judges name-dropped a viral TikTok video showcasing the unproved conspiracy concept that Baskin killed Lewis and fed him to their hungry tigers.

Shortly after “Tiger King” first hit Netflix in 2020, the Lewis family supplied a $100,000 reward for current knowledge on Don Lewis’ disappearance