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Puerto Rico police revealed that they have a person of interest in the execution-style murder of an Ohio man found dead on a remote beach — after texting his pals about a “howler” outside his tent during his solo camping trip.
Top police brass didn’t share details of the unidentified person, but believe the individual has a connection to the overnight slaying of Tyler Wilkin, who was found shot to death in the mangroves of Playa la Selva on the Caribbean island on July 10.
“What I can say is there is a person of interest,” Police Superintendent Joseph González told local newspaper El Nuevo Día on Thursday.
Wilkin, 35, had been staying at a campsite in the northeast corner of the island for two days when he was discovered with a single gunshot wound to the head by a beachgoer on their morning walk just after 6 a.m.
Local police are working with the FBI to search for the shooter in what was previously described as an execution-style killing.
González is remaining tight-lipped on the investigation but said witnesses did not report hearing any gunshots around the time of the shooting.
“We know there aren’t many people in the area. It’s a bit complicated in terms of investigative leads. We can say that there are some leads,” he said.
Wilkin’s body was found “some distance” from his campsite where his tent and belongings were set up, the outlet reported.
González reiterated that no suspect has been established in the case and the individual is only a “person of interest” at this point in the investigation.
Wilkin, who had moved to the US territory in January 2024 to enjoy life by the beach, had been texting his friends the night of his death, claiming a strange individual was lurking near his campsite, setting off fireworks and “howling like a wolf.”
“The howler is back!” Wilkin wrote in a message to a friend at around midnight, his girlfriend, Iva Mo, told WKRC.
Two hours later, Wilkin sent a final message about the “howler,” indicating possible trouble to come.
“This guy is getting rowdy, LOL,” the text read, according to Mo, who had dropped off her boyfriend two days earlier and had been waiting for his usual morning texts.
“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 friends were expected to pick the camper up on Friday, hours after he was found dead.
Mo decried Wilkin’s shooting, trying to understand why he was killed and if it was during an attempted robbery or some other dispute.
“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,” she previously told the Ohio outlet.
Friends 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.
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