Indiana Man Dies in TikTok Filming Accident in Puerto Rico

• The US Coast Guard confirmed the death of Indiana native Edgar Garay in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, over the weekend.
• According to Garay’s brother and cousin, he was filming a TikTok when he tragically walked too far off the edge of a cliff.
• The family has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral costs.

A 27-year-old Indiana native died after he fell off a cliff in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, over the weekend. According to a family member who reportedly was with him at the time, Edgar Garay was filming a video for TikTok.

A US Coast Guard official told Insider that while they cannot confirm his cause of death at this time, a witness at the scene said they saw Garay stumble toward the edge of a 70-foot cliff. The branch is now warning other tourists to exercise extreme caution when taking photos or videos at this sight.

“The location where the incident occurred receives many visitors due to the lighthouse, and people are known to take photos videos close to the edge of the cliff. Doing so, can be quite dangerous,” said Ricardo Castrodad, the Public Affairs Officer for Coast Guard San Juan.

According to a press release about the incident, Garay was on a day trip visiting the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico over the weekend. A 911 operator first flagged the fall to Coast Guard authorities on Sunday evening, prompting a helicopter search through the night.  A Puerto Rico Emergency Bureau dive unit was able to recover Garay’s body on Monday.

Garay was last seen alive around 5:30pm on Sunday.

Garay’s brother Carlos told local NBC affiliate WTHR on Tuesday that Garay was on a sightseeing trip with his cousin. Carlos said their cousin was walking away from the cliffside when they turned back and noticed Garay was no longer there.

Carlos said his brother loved posting to his TikTok, and, according to their cousin, was attempting to film a video when he tragically fell.

“My brother has a TikTok account that he loved to upload videos to,” Carlos told the outlet. “Unfortunately, that was what he was trying to do when he was closer to the edge than he should have been.”

Insider has reached out to Carlos for comment.

He also told the outlet that his brother, who he described as a daredevil, was warned by his cousin not to get too close to the edge of the cliff.

A TikTok account that appears to belong to Garay features a video posted over the weekend showing him hiking in Puerto Rico. The clip shows him traversing rocks and walking near a river. Commenters are now flooding his page with “rest in peace” messages.

Carlos mourned his brother in a recent Facebook post. “I love and miss my brother so much already he was truly taken from us too soon,” he wrote. He asked people to donate to a GoFundMe campaign that he created to help pay for funeral costs. The fundraiser has raised almost $4,000 and is halfway to its goal.

Carlos told WTHR that he wants his brother to be remembered by his nickname “Chuwey” because he had “fluffy cheeks.”