Tourist Camp Turns Deadly—Police Go Silent

person holding a handgun at their side — Photo: Jub-Job / Shutterstock

A remote beach camping trip in Puerto Rico ended with Ohio camper Tyler Wilkin shot execution-style, and weeks later his family says they still have no answers.

Story Snapshot

Tyler Wilkin, 35, was found shot in the back of the head near his campsite on Playa La Selva.
Puerto Rico police have ruled the death a gunshot homicide but say the investigation is still open with no named suspect.
Friends say Wilkin sent uneasy texts about a strange “howler” and an aggressive man near his tent before he was killed.
Family and friends are now raising money to hire a private investigator, highlighting deep concern over crime and transparency.

A Camping Trip Turns Into a Murder Mystery on a Puerto Rico Beach

Ohio native Tyler Wilkin moved from southwest Ohio to Puerto Rico in 2024 to build a new life with a new girlfriend and steady work on the island. In early July, he went camping alone at Playa La Selva, a remote beach near Luquillo on Puerto Rico’s northeastern coast. Friends planned to join him later in the week. On July 10, a person walking at sunrise found Wilkin’s body near the mangroves, close to his campsite, turning a quiet outing into a homicide scene.

Local police say Wilkin was “executed at close range,” with a single gunshot to the back of his head. The director of the Criminal Investigations Corps of Fajardo, Captain Edwin Collazo González, told El Nuevo Día that officers found a wound to the head consistent with a firearm and that they know “he was killed with a firearm.” His body was facing the sea, only minutes from his tent, suggesting he was shot where he camped rather than moved from another location.

Police Describe an Active Homicide Investigation With Few Public Answers

Puerto Rico’s Criminal Investigations Corps in Fajardo says the case is an active homicide investigation and that they have not publicly named any suspect. Captain Collazo González explained that officers are still interviewing people who camped nearby and working other leads while they wait for a judge to approve a search of Wilkin’s cellphone. Investigators plan to review his calls, texts, and social media to look for a motive or contact that could point to a suspect, including any messages sent in the hours before his death.

Police say the investigation is harder because the beach is remote, with rough terrain and limited visibility. Officers reported different descriptions of a vehicle seen in the area and said no one in nearby camps reported hearing gunshots or seeing a clear suspect. This kind of information gap is common in homicide cases where police have not yet made an arrest, and it often leaves families and the public stuck between a simple headline and a complex, slow-moving search for solid evidence.

Unsettling Texts, A Strange “Howler,” and an Aggressive Camper

Friends told Cincinnati media that Wilkin messaged them from his campsite about another man at the campground. They say he described that man as aggressive and lingering near his tent, which made him uneasy while he camped alone. Separate reporting highlighted a series of disturbing texts, including one reading “The howler is back,” sent as he heard frightening noises outside at night. Those messages now loom large in the story, because they may be some of the last signs of what Wilkin saw or feared before he was killed.

🔥 A mysterious execution-style murder in Puerto Rico has left an Ohio family desperate for answers.

Thirty-five-year-old Tyler Wilkin had moved from Ohio to Puerto Rico in January 2024 and built a new life there. His girlfriend describes him as an avid outdoorsman who loved… pic.twitter.com/SA9SG4l3OW

— Unmasked True Crime (@crimeunmasked) July 29, 2026

Friends arrived later expecting to meet Wilkin for the camping trip, but instead learned from police that he had been found dead with a gunshot wound. Media outlets have focused on the “execution-style” nature of the shooting and the remote beach setting, because those facts are clear even while many details stay sealed in the case file. Loved ones say that, since the funeral, they still have not received meaningful updates about suspects, motives, or progress, which adds to their sense of shock and fear.

Family Pushes for Answers as Crime and Transparency Concerns Grow

Wilkin’s friends and family in Ohio and Puerto Rico say the lack of information from authorities has forced them to seek help on their own. They have turned to fundraising to pay for a private investigator, hoping an outside expert can press for details or uncover leads the official probe has not shared publicly. For many Americans, this situation echoes wider worries about crime, government transparency, and the safety of citizens far from home, even as President Trump’s administration pushes for stronger law and order at the federal level.

Puerto Rico police stress that the investigation is ongoing, with interviews and evidence reviews continuing while they wait to unlock Wilkin’s phone. That device could confirm who he was texting about the aggressive camper and the “howler,” and whether he had contact with anyone else who might be linked to the murder. Until investigators share more, the case remains a stark example of how a simple camping trip can turn into a chilling unsolved homicide, leaving a grieving family to demand justice and clarity from a distant criminal justice system.