Ellie Wrigley is a sixteen year-old girl who lives near Edgebridge, Illinois, and is the principal protagonist and narrator of Lynn Weingarten's novel "Wherever Nina Lies". Ellie is sweet and kind, honest and trustworthy, pretty, and is best friends with Amanda. The two girls are loyal and dedicated to one another. Ellie is haunted by the disappearance of her older sister, Nina, two year previous. Ellie works on Mon Coeur, a coffee shop, with her gay friend Brad. Ellie feels as though she has no purpose in her life, until she discovers an old drawing Nina made, with a mysterious phone number. The phone number propels Ellie into a search for Nina, beginning with a house-wrecking party where she meets a mysterious boy named Sean.
Sean proves to be a motivator and catalyst for Ellie, providing the genesis for her journey to find Nina. He accompanies Ellie, who is absolutely smitten with him, and begins to blow off work and sends her best friend home in anger in order to remain with Sean. It later turns out the warnings Amanda makes about Sean are accurate, as Sean has murdered his stepbrother Jason, and is intent on killing Nina for rejecting his love. Ellie and Sean track down Nina in San Francisco, where Sean attempts to kill Nina. Ellie throws herself at Sean to tackle him, allowing the police to arrest intervene and arrest Sean.
Ellie and Nina reunite with their mother after a flight back home. Ellie then makes amends with Amanda and Brad.
