An Ohio man living in Puerto Rico was gunned down execution-style while camping by himself at a remote beach on the Caribbean island — as friends said he complained about a man called “the howler” in his final messages to them.
Tyler Wilkin was discovered shot to death near the forest-isolated Playa la Selva in the northeast corner of the island at around 6 a.m. on July 10 when a beachgoer was on their morning walk, WKRC reported.
The 35-year-old suffered a single gunshot wound to the back of the head while local police believe he was shot at close range in an execution-style slaying, the outlet reported.
Wilkin was dropped off at the remote campsite by his girlfriend on July 8, where he stayed for two days before he made eerie complaints about an individual nicknamed “the howler” causing trouble during his stay.
The unidentified man had been lighting fireworks near Wilkin’s campsite and “howling like a wolf.”
“The howler is back!” Wilkin wrote in a message to a friend the night he was killed.
His last message came hours later, Wilkin’s girlfriend, Iva Mo, said.
“At two in the morning, like two hours later, he said something like, ‘This guy is getting rowdy, LOL.’ And that was the last that we ever heard of him,” Mo told the outlet, saying she found something was wrong when Wilkin failed to send his daily message to her.
“Like six in the morning he consistently, always, texts me, ‘Good morning, love.’ And I didn’t get a text message from him,” she said, fearing the worst.
Wilkin’s body was found in the mangroves just after 6 a.m. on July 10, local news outlet Tele 11 reported.
No arrests have been announced in Wilkin’s murder.
Mo speculated her boyfriend was killed during an attempted robbery as friends and family blasted Puerto Rico police for the lack of development into the investigation.
“To have his entire future just taken away like that in just a split second for what? Like over a wallet or over, I don’t know, for whatever reason, like, it’s just really hard to accept,” Mo said.
Relatives created a GoFundMe to fundraise for a private investigator to “uncover answers and ensure that every possible avenue is explored.”
“We lost Tyler far too soon, and the grief left behind is impossible to put into words. As his family and friends continue to navigate this heartbreaking loss, we are determined to do everything we can to seek the truth and ensure that Tyler receives the justice he deserves,” the fundraiser read.
“Tyler deserved a full life, and he deserves for every possible avenue to be explored,” Lilly Wright, the GoFundMe organizer, wrote.
Wilkin, originally from Wilmington, Ohio, an hour northwest of Cincinnati, had moved to Puerto Rico in January 2024, where his adventurous spirit allowed him to enjoy life by the beach, his family said in his obituary.
He is survived by many family members including his parents, older brother, twin sister and younger sisters, his obituary states.
“He lived life with enthusiasm and was never afraid to embrace the unexpected. He had a way of making life feel exciting and meaningful. His laughter was contagious, his smile was genuine, and his happiness was something he shared freely with everyone around him,” his family said.
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