Real Agunah Story (but not Jewish)

A woman whose husband disappeared (a real aguna, though she was not Jewish) and was declared dead has now found out her husband is still alive.

This possibility is why Jewish Law has specific thresholds until a missing man can be declared dead according to Halacha.  The sages (Chazal) knew how important it was to be able to reach this threshold so they were lenient in expanding the allowed witness pool, accepting testimony about the missing's person alleged death by certain classes of people whose testimony s generally not accepted.

Sourcer: Carole Baskin: 'Dead’ husband found alive but no one noticed (nypost.com)

The “Tiger King” star declared that her missing ex-husband, Don Lewis, was found alive in Costa Rica, but the discovery is just now going viral — over a year later.

During a resurfaced November 2021 interview with ITV’s “This Morning” talk show, Baskin, 61, alleged that her ex, who was declared legally dead in 2002 after disappearing a few years before, was actually alive and well.

However, not everyone is buying it.

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

“I was not aware of it until ‘TK2’ aired,” Baskin told The Post via email, as much confusion and online debate ignited on social media. The animal rights activist alleged in the resurfaced ITV footage that the Department of Homeland Security has been in touch with her former spouse. 

“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, which means this had to have happened after 2002 because Homeland Security wasn’t even around until 2002,” Baskin told the outlet at the time.

“They said my husband, Don Lewis, is alive and well in Costa Rica,” she revealed. “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.”

Lewis disappeared in 1997 at the age of 59 — and would be 84 if he’s still alive today.

The Post has reached out to Baskin, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI for further comment. Meanwhile, Florida’s Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office partially shot down Baskin’s newly viral remarks when reached for confirmation.

“We have not received any communication from our federal partners that confirms the location of missing person Mr. Don Lewis,” Fentress Fountain, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, told The Post. “The investigation into Don Lewis’ disappearance remains a priority for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as do all missing person cases.”

Lewis has not made any public statements debunking rumors that he had died.