Puerto Rico Names 'Person of Interest' in Execution-Style Killing of Ohio Man Tyler Wilkin, Three Weeks After His Death

Puerto Rico's top police official says investigators have a person of interest in the killing of Tyler Wilkin, a 35-year-old Ohio native shot to death while camping alone on a secluded beach in Luquillo.

Police Superintendent Joseph González confirmed the development to the local newspaper El Nuevo Día on Thursday. "What I can say is there is a person of interest," González said, according to the New York Post. He declined to identify the individual or explain the connection to the case, and he stressed no suspect has been named.

Wilkin was found dead the morning of July 10 in the mangroves near Playa La Selva, a remote stretch of coastline in northeast Puerto Rico. A beachgoer on a morning walk discovered his body around 6 a.m., roughly five minutes from his campsite, facing the ocean. He had a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.

González described the shooting as complicated to investigate because so few people are ever in that area. "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 told El Nuevo Día. No witnesses reported hearing gunshots.

The Howler

Wilkin, who moved from Ohio to Puerto Rico in January 2024, had set up camp at Playa La Selva on July 8, planning to hold the popular site for two days before friends joined him. He spent the stay sending his girlfriend, Iva Mo, photos of his campsite and his catch from fishing.

The tone shifted overnight. Wilkin told friends someone was lurking near his tent, setting off fireworks and howling like a wolf. "The howler is back!" he wrote at around midnight, according to Mo's account to Cincinnati TV station WKRC. Roughly two hours later, around 2 a.m. on July 10, he sent his final message: "This guy is getting rowdy, LOL."

Mo told WKRC that Wilkin texted her "good morning, love" every day around 6 a.m. without exception. That morning, the message never came. Police had already found his body by the time his friends arrived to meet him at the campsite, according to Trey Reinhart, a close friend of Wilkin who spoke to WHIO, a Dayton television station.

Family Turns to a Private Investigator

Three weeks after the killing, Wilkin's family and friends say Puerto Rico police have given them almost no information. "If they haven't said anything to me, I can't say that there has been anything solved to this point," Reinhart told WHIO.

A grieving family watching weeks pass with no named suspect, no confirmed motive, and limited communication from local police has reason to push for more transparency, especially in a case involving an American shot on a beach far from home. Reinhart said he worries the case could go cold. "In any murder, if you don't find out some stuff soon, there's a good chance it'll never get solved."

The family launched a GoFundMe to hire a private investigator and pursue independent forensic work, describing the goal as making sure "every possible avenue is explored." Mo has publicly questioned whether Wilkin was killed during a robbery attempt gone wrong. "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 said, according to both the Post and the Mirror.

The Virgin Islands Free Press reported that Wilkin's relatives in Ohio have contacted state officials to apply outside pressure on the investigation, while friends on the island organized the crowdfunding effort themselves. That outlet frames the case as a broader test of "law enforcement responsiveness" in Puerto Rico, a characterization the other outlets don't make as explicitly, though González's own comments about limited leads and a low-traffic crime scene support the idea that this is a genuinely difficult case to crack.

What Happens Next

The FBI is working with Puerto Rico Police Bureau detectives on the case, per the Post, though neither agency has detailed what evidence ties the person of interest to the shooting. González has not said whether an arrest is imminent or whether the person of interest is in custody, under surveillance, or simply being questioned.

Wilkin's funeral was held July 23 in Ohio. His family is asking the public to share the GoFundMe campaign in hopes it generates tips. Until police release a name or make an arrest, the identity of "the howler" and whether that figure had anything to do with Wilkin's death remains unconfirmed.