An Ohio man dwelling in Puerto Rico was gunned down execution-style whereas tenting by himself at a distant seashore on the Caribbean island — as associates stated he complained a couple of man referred to as “the howler” in his closing messages to them.
Tyler Wilkin was found shot to loss of life close to the forest-isolated Playa la Selva within the northeast nook of the island at round 6 a.m. on July 10 when a beachgoer was on their morning stroll, WKRC reported.
The 35-year-old suffered a single gunshot wound to the again of the top whereas native police imagine he was shot at shut vary in an execution-style slaying, the outlet reported.
Wilkin was dropped off on the distant campsite by his girlfriend on July 8, the place he stayed for 2 days earlier than he made eerie complaints about a person nicknamed “the howler” inflicting bother throughout his keep.
The unidentified man had been lighting fireworks close to Wilkin’s campsite and “howling like a wolf.”
“The howler is again!” Wilkin wrote in a message to a good friend the night time he was killed.
His final message got here hours later, Wilkin’s girlfriend, Iva Mo, stated.
“At two within the morning, like two hours later, he stated one thing like, ‘This man is getting rowdy, LOL.’ And that was the final that we ever heard of him,” Mo instructed the outlet, saying she discovered one thing was improper when Wilkin didn’t ship his every day message to her.
“Like six within the morning he persistently, at all times, texts me, ‘Good morning, love.’ And I didn’t get a textual content message from him,” she stated, fearing the worst.
Wilkin’s physique was discovered within the mangroves simply after 6 a.m. on July 10, native information outlet Tele 11 reported.
No arrests have been introduced in Wilkin’s homicide.
Mo speculated her boyfriend was killed throughout an tried theft as family and friends blasted Puerto Rico police for the shortage of growth into the investigation.
“To have his whole future simply taken away like that in only a break up second for what? Like over a pockets or over, I don’t know, for no matter motive, like, it’s simply actually exhausting to simply accept,” Mo stated.
Family members created a GoFundMe to fundraise for a personal investigator to “uncover solutions and be sure that each attainable avenue is explored.”
“We misplaced Tyler far too quickly, and the grief left behind is inconceivable to place into phrases. As his household and associates proceed to navigate this heartbreaking loss, we’re decided to do all the pieces we will to hunt the reality and be sure that Tyler receives the justice he deserves,” the fundraiser learn.
“Tyler deserved a full life, and he deserves for each attainable avenue to be explored,” Lilly Wright, the GoFundMe organizer, wrote.
Wilkin, initially from Wilmington, Ohio, an hour northwest of Cincinnati, had moved to Puerto Rico in January 2024, the place his adventurous spirit allowed him to take pleasure in life by the seashore, his household stated in his obituary.
He’s survived by many members of the family together with his mother and father, older brother, twin sister and youthful sisters, his obituary states.
“He lived life with enthusiasm and was by no means afraid to embrace the sudden. He had a method of constructing life really feel thrilling and significant. His laughter was contagious, his smile was real, and his happiness was one thing he shared freely with everybody round him,” his household stated.
