1991: Natalie's frumpy twin made her infamous Pine Valley debut, arriving in town barely able to hide her seething jealousy of Nat's posh life. Janet was especially envious of the fact that Nat shared said life with Trevor Dillon, the nice-guy cop to whom she was engaged. Janet hatched an evil plan to assume Nat's identity. To that end, she underwent a makeover, practiced her sister's mannerisms and threw a petrified Natalie into a well on the grounds of Wildwind. Trevor was duped easily enough, though Natalie's son, Tim, and the family dog, Harold, nursed doubts about the "new" Natalie. By the time Janet's nefarious deeds were exposed months later, when Nat resurfaced thanks to Dimitri, she had already walked down the aisle with Trevor and was expecting his baby.

1992: Janet slipped out from under the watchful eye of her prison guard when she was taken to the hospital to await the birth of her baby. She didn't remain on the lam for long — just long enough to kill town pariah Will Cortlandt. She also kidnapped Natalie once again and attempted to kill her, but the plan went awry when Janet went into labor. Natalie assisted Janet in giving birth to her daughter with Trevor, Amanda, and Janet agreed to let Nat adopt the newborn.

1994: Janet behaved herself in prison and earned early parole by undergoing experimental plastic surgery, which gave her a new face. Before her release, she befriended fellow inmate Kendall, who was doing time for perjury. Once she regained her freedom, Janet (replete with that new face and an alias, "Jane Cox") returned to Pine Valley to be near little Amanda, though she also found time to seduce, and later blackmail, Palmer. "Jane" successfully cozied up to Trevor, and before long, they were altar-bound. (Natalie had been tragically killed the year before.) Janet's mom, Wilma, and Trevor's close friend, Laurel, both found out the truth, so Janet sent Wilma out of town and tampered with the brakes on Laurel's car. Laurel survived and passed along the news of Jane's true identity to Jack, who revealed it to Trevor just before Trevor and "Jane" exchanged "I do's".

1995: Janet was distraught when she lost Trevor and her access to Amanda, but she wisely decided against murdering Laurel for revenge. Janet was presumed dead after being hit by lightning, but she actually survived and sought refuge in the woods, where she forged a makeshift family with runaway Laura and ex-military man Pierce. Janet showed signs of redemption when she rescued young Jamie from drowning. Holding Out For A Hero: Pierce (James A. Fitzpatrick) helped nurse Janet back to health.