'Tiger King' Zoo Raided by Investigators in Search of Human Remains

Police raided Oklahoma's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, the private zoo featured in the Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, after two cadaver dogs alerted their handlers of potential human remains at the site on Friday. But no evidence of the remains was found, the local sheriff's office confirmed.

The remains were reported instead to be that of a small animal, according to Oklahoma's Garvin County Sheriff, a reporter for Oklahoma's KFOR-TV, Taylor Adams, confirmed in a post on her official Twitter account.

"EXOTIC UPDATE: The Garvin County Sheriff says no human remains were found on site at the GW Zoo tonight. Instead...a small animal. He says the investigation is over. @kfor @joe_exotic," Adams wrote on Friday.

The dogs were reported to be at the park as part of the filming of an episode for the Travel Channel reality television show Ghost Adventures, during which handlers believed the dogs had picked up the scent of body parts, according to Jeff Lowe, the current owner of the zoo, Oklahoma's KOCO-TV reported.

The park was formerly owned by former zookeeper Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic," whose life is documented in the Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness crime series.

Maldonado-Passage owned the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park before he was imprisoned after being convicted in April 2019 for plotting to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, the chief executive officer of Big Cat Rescue, an animal sanctuary based in Florida.

He was also convicted on several animal abuse charges, including for the killing of tigers and the selling of tiger cubs.

‼️EXOTIC UPDATE‼️: The Garvin County Sheriff says no human remains were found on site at the GW Zoo tonight. Instead...a small animal. He says the investigation is over. @kfor @joe_exotic pic.twitter.com/ibLqWx5DVH

— Taylor Adams (@TaylorAdams13) July 11, 2020

Baskin was granted control of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park last month following a ruling that the property was fraudulently transferred to Maldonado-Passage's mother, Shirley Schreibvogel, in a bid to avoid paying Baskin a previous $1 million trademark judgment, Florida's WFTS Tampa Bay reported.

Last month, Seattle police launched an investigation after bags containing human remains were found on a beach near the shoreline of Elliott Bay.

Back in May, two people were arrested on suspicion of murder after an officer found human remains in a suitcase being carried by a couple near the border of England and Wales in the U.K.

The discovery was made near a roadway between Coleford, a town in the county of Gloucestershire in southwest England, and Monmouth, a town in the county of Monmouthshire in southeast Wales.

Last year, human remains were also found in a suitcase left in a southeast Indianapolis creek. Police confirmed the remains did not belong to an infant and were unsure how long the suitcase had been in the creek.

Tiger King rescued tigers animal sanctuary Colorado
Two tigers out of the 39 rescued in 2017 from the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park pictured at the Wild Animal Sanctuary on April 5, 2020 in Keenesburg, Colorado. Getty Images

Editor's pick

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Unlimited access to Newsweek.com
  • Ad free Newsweek.com experience
  • iOS and Android app access
  • All newsletters + podcasts
Newsweek cover
  • Unlimited access to Newsweek.com
  • Ad free Newsweek.com experience
  • iOS and Android app access
  • All newsletters + podcasts