3 DAYS AFTER LILY REED'S DISAPPEARANCE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022

11:05 AM

PINEWOOD THOUGHTS: BLOG

1/11/22, 9:00 AM EST: Is Lily Reed actually the sister of kidnapped teen from Virginia?

Hey guys, you know the drill.

Here at Pinewood Thoughts, I write whatever comes to my head on any given day, which could mean you guys end up with something incredibly brilliant or incredibly dull. I think today's post is going to be the former for those of you who enjoy conspiracy theories, and the latter for those of you who don't.

Lily Reed, author of Every Which Way, Basked in Dark, and, most recently, Booker Lane, the sequel to Basked in Dark, went missing on the morning of her book launch this past Saturday. The ending of Basked in Dark left many readers, myself included, on the edge of their seats wondering what happened to one of the two main characters, who seemed to be kidnapped at the very end of the novel. Booker Lane was hyped up on social media by fans, media, and by Lily herself in the months leading up to its release. Lily also made headlines when it was deduced that her third novel is named after her childhood street name, which she lived on with agent/best friend Tiffani Rosswell.

At first, fans thought this could be a publicity stunt. Author goes missing on the morning of her book launch for a book that revolves around the kidnapping of a young woman? It seemed like too much of a coincidence.

But, it's now been three days since Lily Reed disappeared, and I don't think even the most method author would continue to pull something like this if it were indeed for publicity. Her book has sold out and is on backorder; no more press is really needed at this point.

The whole thing was absolutely fascinating to me, though. So, I dove into the deepest, darkest corners of the internet, and one theory about Lily's disappearance caught my attention. I'm skeptical of most conspiracy theories, so I looked into this particular one a bit more closely. And ya'll will not believe what I found.

For starters, Lily Reed did not have an online presence until 2007. Sure, she was 10 years old at the time. But Tiffani Rosswell had an online presence prior to 2007. Bartholomew Thomas, Lily's long-time boyfriend, also had an online presence prior to 2007. Parents shared photos online, local news articles talked about elementary school awards, even public school records are available if you search for them. Lily Reed didn't exist until 2007, as far as the internet is concerned.

Interesting, no?

Have any of you ever heard of the Anna Newbold case? She was a 15-year-old who was kidnapped and killed back in January 2007 in northern Virginia. She didn't die until she was in the hospital with her family—her parents and 10-year-old sister Madeline—but she died from a head wound, presumably from her abductor. A few days after Anna died, police went searching for her family, but they had cleared out their home and disappeared into thin air. A local newspaper ran a story on them a year later, saying that no one had heard from the Newbold family since their oldest daughter's death.

So, what if Lily Reed is actually Madeline Newbold? After those tragic stories in 2007, the Newbold family didn't only disappear from their neighborhood. They disappeared online, from school records, and from multiple boards that the parents previously served on. Madeline Newbold, for all intents and purposes, died in 2007, and Lily Reed was born.

Again, just a silly little conspiracy theory. But the timeline does line up suspiciously well. But when it all comes down to it, we just want Lily back home safe and sound. And I hope that happens soon.

Love you guys!

Mel

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4 DAYS AFTER LILY REED'S DISAPPEARANCE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022

11:05 PM

DAILY NEWS

NYC CRIME

Blogger Melanie Pinewood found dead following viral post about Lily Reed

Melanie Pinewood, a 21-year-old lifestyle blogger, was found dead less than a mile from her Manhattan apartment late Wednesday evening. Police say that the cause of death is multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

Pinewood had a medium-sized following on social media platforms TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Her lifestyle blog, Pinewood Thoughts, saw an average of 23,000 readers every month. Her posts ranged in topic from inexpensive healthy recipes to true crime stories.

On Tuesday morning, Pinewood shared a blog post entitled, Is Lily Reed actually the sister of kidnapped teen from Virginia? Due to the media presence surrounding Lily Reed's recent disappearance, Pinewood's post went viral almost instantly. As of 5:00 PM today, the post had been viewed over 129,000 times and had been shared by 34,982 people.

Pinewood tweeted on Tuesday evening from her personal account @melpinewood: "It's not every day that your blog post earns you a text from a ridiculously successful literary agent...maybe my theory wasn't such a conspiracy? #lilyreedismissing". Police have not confirmed the identity of the literary agent Pinewood mentioned, but many fans have assumed that the agent in reference is Tiffani Rosswell, the best friend and agent of Lily Reed.

As of this writing, Rosswell has not been brought in for questioning in Pinewood's murder.

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Tiffani had decided long ago that she would not look at her phone for an hour before she went to bed. She left the ringer on in case she got a call from Lily—or, more recently, the police—but she didn't look at her phone for the last few hours of every night.

As she settled back on her couch with an ARC from one of her lesser-known clients, her phone began to ring.

Tiffani sighed and answered it; she had given up hope that any call would be from Lily, saying that this entire thing was an elaborate prank.

"This is Tiffani."

"Ms. Rosswell. Detective Michael Lin."

Tiffani shifted in her seat. His voice sounded very, very off.

"Hello, Detective. How can I help you?"

"I need you to come down to the station again."

Tiffani checked her watch. It was almost 11:30 PM.

"I can be there at 9:00 AM tomorrow."

"No." Detective Lin's voice was firm, bordering angry. "You'll have to come in now."

Tiffani's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Alright. Can you tell me what's going on? Did you find Lily?"

"Be at the station in ten minutes, or I'll be forced to drive out and collect you."

The line clicked and Tiffani stared at her phone for thirty full seconds before standing up.

Collect me?