Janice's real mother Joanna returned to Salem in 1978 and secretly began to see her daughter. The two planned a trip to Disneyland, and one night they ran off. Mickey and Maggie searched desperately for Janice without any clues as to what had happened. Luckily Janice had mentioned to Hope about her trip to Disneyland with Joanna, and the FBI found the two in Florida after Joanna had a heart attack. Joanna returned to Salem to have surgery, and afterward she took a job working at Bob Anderson's house as a maid, and came to know her daughter better. Later that year after Maggie had crashed her car and Janice was injured, Joanna started legal proceedings to take Joanna away from Mickey and Maggie. In 1978 Janice had an accident on the docks while playing with Melissa, she fell into the water, and was rescued by Chris Kosnitchek, but fell into a coma. Janice's mother Joanna would battle with Maggie over custody of Janice, but in the end Joanna won custody of her daughter.