Janice Barnes

Janice is the biological daughter of Joanne Barnes, and the foster daughter of Mickey and Maggie Horton. At an early age, she had been left in orphanage by her mother. In 1976, Mickey and Maggie Horton visited an orphanage to adopt a child since Mickey was sterile. They immediately fell in love with Janice. Following much red tape, Janice was able to spend time with the Hortons and slow adoption proceedings were begun. For over a year and a half, Janice lived with the Hortons and came to think of them as her parents. Aside from minor conflicts with the neighbors' son, Billy Barton, Janice enjoyed a happy upbringing by the Hortons and looked forward to the adoption, which would soon be finalized.

In the spring of 1978, Janice met a woman in the park who claimed to be like a fairy godmother. The meetings with this woman, named Joanne, continued as Janice gained trust in her. Joanne soon proposed to take Janice on a trip to Disney World in Florida and Janice willingly accepted. Before leaving, Janice mentioned the trip to her cousin Hope Williams. Once in Florida, Joanne suffered a heart attack in their hotel. By that time, the FBI found Janice. Unknowingly, Janice had allowed herself to be kidnapped by her natural mother, Joanne Barnes. After Joanne recovered, she expressed a severe interest in retrieving custody of Janice. Janice also expressed interest in getting to know her mother. For the time being, provisional custody was given to Joanne, and Janice went to live with her. As the custody case progressed, Janice witnessed the anguish Mickey and Maggie were suffering at the thought of losing her. Janice felt torn between her two mothers; in fact, she even had a nightmare in which her grandfather Tom, as a judge, ruled to cut her in half so that both Maggie and Joanne could have a part of her. In the end, Joanne won permanent custody of Janice. While they stayed in Salem for a while, Janice and Joanne eventually moved to California.

In the fall of 1987, Janice was visited by Maggie, who at the time was recovering from Myasthenia Gravis. Joanne had recently passed away, and Janice felt that it was time to return to the family that had embraced her as a child. Now a vibrant medical school student, Janice returned to Salem and got an internship at University Hospital. She soon moved back in with Mickey and Maggie, and helped in Maggie's recovery. At the hospital, Janice worked closely with Bill Horton, the then Chief of Surgery. She quickly developed an admiration for Bill and spend a lot of time with him. This admiration soon turned into an attraction...and it was mutual. Bill was not only her uncle (sort of), but he was still married to Laura, who was in a sanitarium. One night, the feelings that existed between Janice and Bill gave way. Having just received news from Chicago that Laura had attempted suicide, Bill sought comfort in Janice, and they wound up making love. Later, neither regretted it, but Bill decided that it shouldn't happen again. Janice, however, wanted a relationship with Bill and continued to pine for him.

Meanwhile, Mike Horton, Bill's son, took an interest in Janice and also spent a lot of time with her. When his interest in her became more than obvious, Janice gently told him that she couldn't think of jumping into a relationship with him; she was currently in love with a married man. At the same time, Janice and Bill began to see each other once again. Bill soon began contemplating divorcing Laura. However, he couldn't go through with it. Janice saw that Bill still loved her and knew that she would never have Bill's heart. Finally, she and Bill chose to end the relationship once and for all, but not without a good-bye kiss. Unfortunately, Mike came upon them at that moment and put all the pieces together.

Needless to say, Mike was furious. The rest of the family wasn't thrilled to hear about Janice and Bill's affair either, but placed of the responsibility on Bill than Janice. Mike did manage to forgive Janice but had a hard time keeping any sort of relationship, friendly or otherwise, with her. Feeling guilty about the entire situation, Janice decided that the best thing to do was to leave Salem. Yet, Mickey advised her not to do that. She was an important part of the family and they didn't want her to go. Before making her final decision, Janice chose to take a walk by the pier one night to sort her thoughts. While on the pier, she was attacked from behind by the Riverfront Knifer and stabbed three times in the back. A few minutes later, Mike found her unconscious and had her rushed to the hospital. But despite Mike and Bill's efforts, Janice died on the operating table.

The character of Janice Barnes was played by the following:

Martha Nix (1976-1980)
Elizabeth Storm (1987-1988)

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