When Rebecca was first introduced, she had been on the run from her controlling husband, Arthur. An amnesiac Shane found her camping out in the mountains outside of Salem after almost losing his life in an explosion at the revival camp. The two began forming an attachment, but when Rebecca's husband Arthur showed up, a fight ensued, and both Rebecca and Shane fled, believing that they had killed Arthur. While on the run, they posed as man and wife, and when Rebecca found his wallet and learned who he really was, she kept quiet, having fallen in love with Shane, and needing his help to get away from the shadow of her husband. Shane eventually recovered his memory, and he and Rebecca returned to Salem, just in time for him to find Kimberly in Cal Winters' arms. They left town immediately, heading to Chicago to clear Rebecca in the murder of her husband. While there they learned that Arthur was still alive and well. When they returned to Salem again, Rebecca learned that Cal planned to set Kimberly up to shoot Shane (his plan was to have her think Shane was a burglar), and Cal made sure she would never tell anyone by arranging to have her die in a car crash.