Carole Baskin faces questions as cadaver dog smells human remains near missing husband Don Lewis' lake-house
Cadaver dogs have picked up scent of human remains near Carole Baskin's missing husband's lake house, and now she might have to face intense interrogation regarding Don Lewis's disappearance as part of the Lewis family suit. The cadaver dog discovery will be revealed in a new documentary airing Sunday on Investigation Discovery (ID).
The show, which is titled 'Tigers, Lies And Cover Ups' will reveal pieces of evidence allegedly relating to Don's 1997 disappearance, and which may add more weight to 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic's claims that Lewis was murdered. Carole has vociferously denied all claims that she was involved in Don's disappearance and death and no charges have been brought against her.
Ex-Secret Service agent and retired homicide detective Jim Rathmann, who had undertaken great pains for the investigation, told The Sun that a cadaver dog allegedly picked up a scent of remains just meters from Don's lake house in Brandon, Florida. He said: “Cadaver dogs can detect human remains 20 feet below water and the fact we have her alerting on the same spot was extremely exciting."
“But after 23 years whatever is in there is covered in mud, makes a search, there is zero visibility and there’s alligators there. We are not going to find a body, but if Don, hypothetically, had gone through a meat grinder we are looking for soft bone fragments, clothing or maybe a tooth. Best case scenario is you find a tooth or bone that you extract DNA from," he said, adding, "The best way would be to establish a barrier, pump water out, allow that area to dry and bring cadaver dogs to search again.”
CSI specialist Mike Sinszer's cadaver dog had carried out the search. Apparently, the dog located a hit spot just at the back of Don’s property. Following this, Hillsborough Sheriff's Office sent detectives and divers to the lake that is filled with alligators and snakes, but could not make any substantial discoveries due to poor weather conditions. Rathman hopes that “some not for profits companies” would be able to fund the dig after the ID show airs this weekend.
"It's really important of something of that nature, given the cadavers dog is highly skilled, you cannot ignore it, we must explore it further," he explained. "The sheriff has the grid coordinates and hopefully they will use resources to pump the water out and investigate, because there is definitely something there.”
Rathman believes that the lawsuit against Carole could bring about several questions from civil lawyers, which could possibly lead to a criminal interview. “I do believe there is a very good chance there will be some re-questioning," he said. “A lot of that questioning under oath will happen in the discovery process in Don Lewis’ daughters lawsuit against Carole. And I am certain the sheriff's office will be paying close attention to those depositions as well, to see what information comes from that, because that might help them out. There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Don’s disappearance," he added.