Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-26065088-20160606160208/@comment-27652981-20160607074736

Well in one version of "The Hunt For The Ring" presented in the Unfinished Tales of Númenor & Middle-Earth there were in fact hobbits living in the Vales of Anduin until the Nazgúl slaughtered them all while searching for "Baggins", apparently in the mistaken belief that the shire was somewhere near the Anduin.

Unfortunately later writings contradict this, so I find it unlike that the mods lore will follow this path.