1993: Julia Santos was a beautiful woman, and she knew it. In San Antonio, she had been caught in an affair with a much older man. Her father, Hector Santos, sent her to live in Pine Valley with her doctor sister, Maria Santos.

1994: Julia befriended Terrence Frye. Terrence wanted to tame Julia, but she was not looking to be tamed. Their brief courtship caught the eye of Taylor Roxbury Cannon. Taylor was attracted to Terrence herself. Julia warned the innocent Terrence about Taylor.
Life at Wildwind was never quiet. Julia began dating Del Henry, Maria’s college boyfriend. Really, Del was using Julia to get closer to Maria. Julia humored Del, all the while confiding in best friend Anton Lang. Julia was worried about Anton’s marriage to Kendall Hart. Julia accused Kendall of being a gold digger.
Julia’s life was turned upside down when a tornado tore through Pine Valley. Julia pushed Maria out of the way of a falling chandelier. The shards of glass left her face permanently disfigured. Maria did her best to piece Julia’s face back together. Julia did not want anyone to see her in this state, so she ran away.
In Center City, Julia wandered around looking for shelter. She noticed a dark man following her. When Julia went to attack her, he did not retaliate. Instead, he led her to his home. The man was Noah Keefer. Noah noticed the very out of place Julia and wanted to offer her a safe place to stay. Julia told Noah she could never go back to where she came from. Noah put no pressure on Julia to leave. Even disfigured, Julia felt beautiful around the gentle Noah. She finally knew how truelove felt.
But her happiness with Noah was not to be. While Noah was out, drug-dealer Louie Greco broke in to his apartment and raped Julia. Julia returned to Pine Valley. She confided in Maria what had gone on since she disappeared. Julia had an abortion when she learned she was pregnant with Louie’s child. Maria helped her piece together her life, sending her to nursing school after successfully undergoing plastic surgery.

1995: Julia tried to move on with her life. Though she was still in love with Noah, she could not bear to be reminded of her rape. She thought all her chances with Noah were gone when Taylor announced that she was pregnant with his child.
Louie came to Pine Valley to reclaim Julia. Noah came to Julia’s defense. He was sent to prison for publicly attacking Louie. Fearful for her safety, Julia moved back into Wildwind. But even all of Edmund’s guards were unable to protect her. Louie kidnapped Julia and made arrangements to stow her away to Canada.
Mateo and Noah found Louie as he made his way to the border. Louie pulled a gun on Noah. As they struggled for control, Louie fell to the ground and sustained a fatal head injury. Julia and Noah were now free to be together. But, on the day they were to marry, the authorities arrived to take Noah into custody for Noah’s murder.

1996: Noah was found guilty for Louie’s murder. Julia, Noah, Mateo, and Hayley Vaughan went on the run to Jamaica to buy time. They were determined to prove Noah’s story. But, Taylor found them and was ready to turn them all into the authorities. Julia and Taylor got in an altercation at the top of a waterfall. Julia fell over the cliff, seemingly to her death.
Julia hatched a plot to manipulate Taylor into confessing about hiding Louie’s gun. She appeared to Taylor that evening in a ghostly apparition. Taylor confessed to the crime. Armed with the evidence they needed to exonerate Noah, they returned to Pine Valley.
Maria and Edmund gave Julia and Noah a lavish wedding at Wildwind. But their happiness was short-lived. Julia was the only witness to the shooting of Noah’s sister, Belinda Keefer. A crime lord named Slade was trying to track down Noah and Belinda’s mother, Rose Keefer. Julia testified in open court that Slade was the assailant. Slade was revealed to be a part of a bigger crime ring. The Federal Government place Rose, Noah and Julia in witness protection, forcing her to say goodbye to her family and friends in Pine Valley.

1997: Julia was given a small reprieve to see Mateo on the day he was set to marry Hayley Vaughan. It was the first time Julia would see her family since she learned Maria had died in a plane crash. Julia confided that she had a bad feeling about the plane crash. But before she could act on her instinct, Julia returned to witness protection.

2002: Julia returned to Wildwind to see a recently resurrected Maria, only to find Aidan Devane bleeding to death in the barn house hayloft. Mateo had arranged the visit as a surprise Christmas gift. Maria confronted her with a pitchfork thinking she was the assassin hired to kill him. Though Maria suffered from retrograde amnesia, she had memories of the night of the tornado and Julia’s scarred face.

2005: Julia’s life in Witness Protection was compromised when Noah was murdered. He went to confront The Dragon, the leader of the crime syndicate that had threatened their lives. Julia took matters into her own hands. She escaped custody to track down The Dragon. She only knew of one person who could help her: Edmund.
Julia made her way to Wildwind only to find it empty. She hid in the castle until she found an intruder. It was Zach Slater. Zach was Maria’s former lover from her time in Nevada. Zach told Julia about what had happened since she had left. Edmund was dead. Maria and Anita were in California where Mateo now lived with his own family. Zach offered his own resources to protect Julia. Their plans were compromised when Kendall, Zach’s new wife, discovered them together.
Tad Martin discovered Julia. He offered her a place to stay in his attic. Tad was caring for Sam Grey. Sam and Maria’s relationship was strained since Edmund’s death. Julia reminded Sam about how much both his parents loved him.
Julia left Tad to confront the Dragon on her own. Garret Williams took Julia in. He turned out to be none other than the Dragon. Di Henry arrived to confront Garret herself. She begged her not to hurt Julia. She provided enough of a diversion for Julia to grab a makeshift shank and stab him. Garret died at Julia’s feet.
Di was the town pariah for impersonating the late Dixie Cooney. Julia felt she owed Di her life. She opened Wildwind to her, and Del who was back in town too.

2006: Julia was determined to start her life anew. She began working at Pine Valley Hospital again. Julia wanted a child. She turned to fertility specialist Dr. Greg Madden. Only, Greg told her she could not have children. Julia was devastated at first. She soon learned Greg had lied to her for no other reason than the prey on her fragile state of mind.
Julia began an affair with the much younger Jamie Martin. Julia wanted to break things off, but Jamie convinced her to give their relationship a try.
Julia and Noah were friends with a couple named Jim and Linda Mershon while they were in hiding. Jim and Linda were going to visit Wildwind for Christmas with a surprise. On the way there, Jim got in a car accident. Jim died on the scene, but Linda was rushed to the hospital. Linda revealed the surprise to be her daughter, Kathy Mershon. Linda had not other family and knew Julia would do a good job raising Kathy. In her dying breath, she asked Julia to adopt Kathy,
Julia wanted Wildwind to be full of people like it was before. She invited various people to move in as boarders.

2007: Julia and Kathy ran into Tad in the park on the day Dixie died. Julia recognized Kathy’s natural bond to Tad. Kathy asked Julia if Tad could be his father. The situation unnerved Julia, but she allowed the two to remain close.
Jamie and Julia’s relationship became estranged when Julia realized Jamie was not ready to have children. Though he loved Kathy, he freaked out after catching Julia with a pregnancy test. Julia decided it was best to end things before they become more serious.
Julia took Kathy to California to meet the rest of the Santos clan. When she returned, Jamie had left for Africa to join his uncles in Doctors without Borders.

2008:Julia made plans to start a new life in Australia with Kathy. Weeks before her big move, Julia attended Angie and Jesse Hubbard’s wedding at The Seasons East Casino. Unbeknownst to everyone there, the night would end in tragedy when Robert Gardner went on a shooting spree in his attempt to runaway from the authorities with a precious diamond. Julia was shot in the abdomen and needed immediate care.
At the hospital, Joe Martin told Julia that the bullet had caused internal bleeding. Julia knew even with surgery, her chances for survival were slim. Resolved with the idea that she was going to die. Julia decided against surgery and instead finalized plans for Maria to be named guardian of Kathy. She did not want Kathy back at the hospital as she had gone through so much pain there already.
As Julia slipped away, Dixie’s spirit appeared to her assuring Kathy would not be alone. Kathy was really Dixie and Tad’s daughter, Kate Martin. Julia died knowing her daughter would finally have the family she deserved.