A new death case nearly roped in the subjects of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness on Friday. However, all parties involved can now breathe a bit easier. On Friday, cadaver dogs seemingly discovered human remains in the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, where Joe Exotic (real name, Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage) operated a zoo for many years. The search was conducted as part of the filming of a Ghost Adventures episode at the park.
Luckily, the dogs did not actually discover human remains, TMZ reports. The outlet’s law enforcement sources in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, say the remains were not from a person. “They did uncover some animal bones that appear to be the skeleton of small animal with a tail,” TMZ’s updated report reads. They also not that authorities have left the zoo, and the investigation has concluded.
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While there are no literal human skeletons in Exotic’s proverbial reptile closet, Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park is the final resting place for a few people. Four people’s ashes are buried somewhere on the property, according to TMZ’s sources close to Exotic. Those sources did not disclose the identities of these people, but the deceased apparently loved the zoo.
The Tiger King world has been abuzz with two matters as of late. First, there is a significant property dispute going down concerning the zoo itself. While Jeff Lowe took ownership of the business from Exotic, that was not supposed to happen. Exotic should have turned over the property to Carole Baskin, his animal rights activist rival and eventual target of a hit he ordered. While news of that decision broke on June 1, no updates on the matter have surfaced. It is unclear when Baskin will formally take ownership of the property.
Elsewhere, the saga of Joe Exotic is poised to inspire numerous other projects. While rumors of some sort of Netflix continuation pop up here and there, there are two scripted projects in development. One stars Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon as Baskin and is based on the Season 2 of Wondery’s podcast Over My Dead Body. (The source material tackled the Tiger King’s subject matter before the Netflix series debuted.) The second comes from CBS Television Studios and Imagine Television and is based on a Texas Monthly article on the case. It will star Nicolas Cage as Exotic.
PopCulture.com recently caught up with Tiger King personality Kelci “Saff” Saffery and asked him to weigh in on casting for possible scripted adaptations of Exotic’s controversial life. “Kate McKinnon, I think she’d be awesome as Carol,” Saffery said. “Carol’s a very […] eccentric person, but she’s got that very guarded thing going on and Kate McKinnon — I mean with SNL — she’s going to nail it. … I’ve always just pushed for David Spade (for Joe) – it’s just a personal opinion of mine — but I’m sure Nicolas Cage, I mean, he’s incredible obviously, and I’m sure he’ll nail it too!”
Producers have not revealed release dates or homes for their planned series about Exotic. However, all episodes of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness are on Netflix and are not going anywhere.
