Jan's parents are very wealthy and very busy ... her mother is a 'daily manicure' kind of woman, and her father is constantly on business. Their neglect of her hurts Jan, and makes her act out, because her parents are never around. This leaves Jan free to get into a lot of trouble, which she did her junior year. Jan, Philip, and Jason, all rich kids with time to kill, made a point of ridiculing new girl Chloe Lane, because she dressed all in black and didn't want to have a lot to do with the other students.

The problems between Jan and Chloe escalated to the point where Jan and Mimi, a girl Chloe began picking on when Mimi's family lost all their money, created a plan to get back at Chloe for pinning Jan down and rubbing a dead rat all along her face and neck. They set up a camera to take pictures of a naked Chloe in the shower, and Jan set up a plan to post them on the Internet, and also slipped a slide into the projector at the Last Blast Dance.

Jan and Mimi made $27,000 off the Internet site, but they also landed themselves in a heap of trouble. Chloe took them to court, and Jan and Mimi were sentenced to spend the summer on the environmental activity trip the school had planned, and to clean the showers during their senior year. That wasn't the worst punishment...they were banned from attending any non-educational extracurricular activity...in other words, no prom!

The only person left standing by Jan is her boyfriend Jason (her parents were 'too busy' to even show up for court), but that's not much there...Jason has frequently exhibited bursts of temper with Jan, and her friends have occasionally wondered if his temper is worse than they see. He has no problem grabbing her when she's angry, and doesn't listen when she tells him it's hurting her.

Things finally came to a head between Jan and Jason while they were on the island. She tired of his abusive behavior and obsessive drinking, and found herself sucked in by Paul Mendez and his promises to make her a star. She started to realize that something was wrong, but before she could get away from him, Paul held her down and raped her, taking her virginity, and leaving her with gonorrhea...and a baby on the way.

Jan was utterly humiliated by the experience, and begged Shawn, who found her, not to tell anyone. When she, and then everyone else, discovered she was pregnant, Shawn talked her into going through with the pregnancy, and promised that he would marry her, and raise the baby as his own, which devastated his girlfriend, Belle. Jan left town after losing the baby, and having the truth about what happened come out.

After spending a year in Europe with her parents, Jan returned to Salem. Her mother and father had apparently been killed, leaving Jan very wealthy. She soon began seeking therapy from Marlena Evans, claiming to have reformed. In reality, she just wanted to break up Shawn and Belle, and get Shawn for herself, and she enlisted Nicole's help to do it. Nicole talked the disturbed young woman into killing Victor for her, but that in itself didn't help Jan's cause. After Shawn and Belle split because Shawn blamed Belle for his beloved great-grandmother's death, Jan kidnapped Shawn and held him hostage at her country house, torturing him with visions of Belle getting closer to their good friend, Philip.

Shawn finally escaped from Jan's prison and took off on a motorcycle, headed for Salem and Belle. Unfortunately, his motorcycle crashed and he suffered serious head wounds. He was different after the accident, and Jan was the only woman he wanted to be with (which, of course, thrilled Jan). Jan has continued to manipulate Shawn, but Shawn was with her of his own free will. Jan was desperate to keep Shawn with her, to the extent of blackmailing Mimi with the news of her abortion to keep Mimi silent once Mimi found out that Jan had held Shawn captive in her home. The two were arguing one night and Jan tripped on a rock, hitting her head. Jan disappeared from the Salem scene after going into the hospital, leaving Mimi to face the music.