Exotic countess Echo DiSavoy and her brother, Giles Morgan, came to Llanview in 1983 with an ax to grind. Their mother, Giselle, had been found dead after having an affair with Clint Buchanan years earlier, and they believed Clint was responsible for her death. Echo slowly wormed her way into Clint's life and used her skills as a photographer to get hired at the Banner, where Clint was editor. In June 1983, Echo went to Llanfair for a business meeting with Clint and seduced him into bed. Echo later made sure Clint's wife, Viki, learned about the affair, which infuriated Clint. During a bitter argument with Clint on a bridge, Echo plunged into the water in an apparent suicide.

Dorian Lord, who had befriended Echo, witnessed the fight and told police that Clint had pushed Echo. Clint was indicted for Echo's murder and awaited trial. Meanwhile, Viki and Marco Dane were searching for evidence to clear Clint when they discovered that Echo was very much alive. Echo admitted her scheme during Clint's trial, where it was also revealed that Echo and Giles's father, not Clint, had killed their mother, not Clint. Clint was freed and soon reunited with Viki, who forgave him for the brief indiscretion. Giles was incarcerated for his part in the scheme, while Echo was quickly ushered out of town.

After 27 years, Echo resurfaced in Llanview in October 2010. She arrived at Llanfair and was greeted by Charlie Banks, whom she had hooked up with after leaving Llanview for Atlantic City. Echo claimed to have come back to say hello to Charlie, who she affectionately called "Chuckles," and to apologize to Viki for nearly ruining her marriage. But Viki gave Echo an ice-cold reception and was suspicious of Echo's true motive for returning. Echo asked Viki to hire her as a photographer for the Banner, but Viki rejected the idea and urged Echo to leave town. Echo had a chance encounter with Clint, who was also none too happy to see her. Echo told Clint it was clear he wasn't over being betrayed by Bo and Nora and she said his new tough-guy attitude reminded her of Asa -- a comparison Clint welcomed. Echo visited Dorian Lord and tried to get her help in convincing Viki to hire her at the Banner, but Dorian told Echo and she and Viki had made peace with each other and kicked Echo out of her house. Echo claimed she hadn't been back to Llanview since she originally left town after Clint's trial. But Rex told Viki that Echo had returned to Llanview less than a year after she had originally left for Atlantic City, where she had hooked up with Charlie.

Echo got a room at the Angel Square Hotel, conning Roxy into letting her stay for free in exchange for Echo taking glamour shots of Roxy. Inside her room, Echo pulled out a box that contained half of a heart charm necklace - the other half of which was left with Rex when he was abandoned at Llanview Hospital. Echo showed the necklace to Clint, who claimed not to remember giving it to her after returning from a business trip to New Mexico. Echo was confronted by Viki and Rex, who had found Echo's half of the necklace while searching her room. Rex accused her of stealing the necklace from his father Rick, but Echo claimed she had received the necklace from a gentleman friend and knew nothing about Rick. Viki realized that the letters Rex found that were supposedly between his mother Lili and father Rick actually were copied from a book that had been written by Asa's grandmother Blaize Pardee.

Viki confronted Echo with her discovery, but Echo claimed to know nothing about the book or the letters. During a private confrontation with Clint, Echo admitted that she was Rex's mother and that Clint was the father. Echo said she learned she was pregnant after leaving Llanview and moving to New Mexico with her brother Giles. Giles pressured Echo to extort money from Clint, so Echo returned to Llanview with Rex after giving birth. But Echo spied Clint and Viki at Llanview celebrating their reunion and overheard Viki tell Clint she never wanted to hear Echo's name again. Echo knew her baby would be resented if she forced him on Clint, so she went to the hospital and left the baby with half of the heart necklace, keeping the other half to remind her of her child. Echo knew she couldn't go back to New Mexico because Giles would ask too many questions, so she moved on and made sure Giles never found her.

Clint stunned Echo by revealing that he had known the truth since early 2009, when he learned his bone marrow was a perfect genetic match for Shane, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. Echo couldn't believe the lengths to which Clint had gone to keep Rex from discovering the truth, but Clint said Rex was a money hungry bastard who didn't deserve the Buchanan name. Clint threatened to have Rex sent to jail for corporate espionage for breaking into BE if Echo revealed Clint was Rex's father. So when Echo finally admitted the truth to Rex, she claimed that Charlie was Rex's father. After Bo realized that Clint could be Rex's father, Viki demanded a DNA test. When the DNA tests named Charlie as the father, Echo didn't let on that she knew the tests were false. After Roxy learned Echo was Rex's mother, she demanded that Echo pay her for the room and then threw her out when Echo said she didn't have any money. Echo then turned up on Charlie and Viki's doorstep, asking for a place to stay.

Echo turned a one-night visit at Llanfair into a never-ending stay, playing on Charlie's sympathies about trying to get closer to Rex and Shane. Echo's presence infuriated Viki, who turned to Dorian for help. Dorian lured Echo to LaBoulaie on Christmas Eve under the pretense of a photography assignment and locked her on the roof, forcing Echo to tumble down the fireplace in a Santa suit. Echo later demanded that Dorian pay her for the damages she incurred as a result of the stunt, but Dorian cancelled the check as soon as she wrote it. Dorian then followed Echo to an AA meeting, convinced that Echo was pretending to be a recovering alcoholic to get closer to Charlie. Echo nearly spilled the truth about Rex's father until she spotted a disguised Dorian in the audience and called her out. Dorian pressed Echo to admit that Clint was Rex's father, but Echo blew off Dorian's accusations and promised to get back at her.

Echo slowly got closer to Rex and Shane, although Gigi continued to give her the cold shoulder. One day Echo accidentally saw Shane's MyFace page and realized he was being bullied at school, but Echo said nothing to Rex or Gigi after Shane pleaded with her to keep quiet.

Viki finally threw Echo out of her house in February 2011 after she crossed over a line by going into Viki and Charlie's bedroom to check on Charlie, who had come down with the flu. Echo got a room at the sleazy Minute Man Hotel on the outskirts of town. The truth about Rex's paternity came out at the double wedding of Jessica and Natalie, where Clint's assistant Vimel admitted to having switched the DNA tests because Clint didn't want to acknowledge that he was Rex's father. A devastated Charlie stormed out of the church and showed up at Echo's hotel room, where he told her what had happened and then they began making out.

Dorian realized that Charlie and Echo were having an affair after seeing Echo with Charlie's watch, but Echo denied anything was going on. Charlie told Echo that Dorian threatened to tell Viki about their affair if he didn't break it off with her, but Charlie told Echo that he couldn't stop seeing her so he lied to Dorian that the affair was over. As the weeks dragged on, Charlie told Echo that he couldn't keep going behind Viki's back and promised to break up with Viki. But before that could happen, Viki barged into Echo's motel room and caught Charlie and Echo in bed together. Viki lashed out at Echo for ensnaring another of Viki's husbands, but Charlie let Viki know that this was more than a one-time affair. Charlie admitted to Viki that he was in love with Echo, and Viki said they were through and kicked him out of Llanfair.

Echo admitted to Rex that Shane was being bullied after Rex confided in her about the trouble Shane was having at school. Shane went missing and later Echo learned that he had nearly jumped off the school's roof in a suicide attempt. Echo told Clint what had happened and was surprised when Clint felt protective of Shane and vowed to make the bullies pay. Echo begged Clint not to tell Charlie that Echo knew all along that Rex was not his son, and Clint reluctantly agreed to keep quiet after realizing that Viki and Charlie were through.

Echo was stunned when Niki Smith, Viki's alternate personality, barged into her motel room and played a tape recording of Echo's conversation with Clint in which she admitted that she knew all along that Charlie wasn't Rex's father. Echo fought Niki for the tape but Niki got away after Charlie showed up. When Viki reemerged, she discovered the tape recording and gave it to Charlie. Charlie listened to the tape in front of Echo and was shocked at what he heard. Echo begged for forgiveness but Charlie said they were through. He moved to Paris, Texas, after his divorce to Viki was finalized. Echo vowed to make Dorian and Viki pay for ruining her chance at happiness with Charlie.

Echo returned from a photography assignment out of state to learn that Gigi had been declared brain dead from carbon monoxide poisoning after a prank by Jack and his friends against Shane had gone awry. Rex was desperate to find a way to prevent Gigi's heart from being transplanted into Clint, who had recently suffered a heart attack and would die without a transplant. Echo forged Gigi's signature on a living will Gigi had drawn up before her death but hadn't had time to complete. This gave Rex the power to prevent Gigi's heart from being transplanted into Clint. Later, however, Rex reconsidered after Todd managed to get the charges dropped against Jack. Rex forced Clint to hand over all of his assets, including the company and the family home, in exchange for Gigi's heart. He then moved himself, Shane and Echo into the Buchanan mansion, where Rex began plotting revenge against Todd and Rex.

Echo, meanwhile, began to exact her own revenge against Viki and Dorian. She told Viki that Dorian had nearly let Clint die when he had his heart attack, which sparked a renewed feud between Viki and Dorian. Then Echo hired the actress who was playing Dorian in a movie adaptation of David Vickers' life to make it appear that she and David were having an affair. Echo took photos of the actress, Ionia, in compromising situations with David and had the photos published online and in The Sun. Dorian initially believed David was cheating on her but later realized that Echo was behind it. During a confrontation, Echo hit Dorian over the head with a potted plant and dragged her to the Minute Man Motel, where she bound and gagged Dorian. Echo decided the only thing she could do was make it appear that Dorian had killed herself, but Dorian's young nephew Sam came to the rescue by ensnaring Echo in a Spiderman web. Echo was arrested and held in jail, but Dorian dropped the charges after Clint - acting on behest of Rex - threatened to tell everyone that Dorian had nearly let him die.

Echo became worried for Rex's sanity when he claimed he was seeing Gigi hovering around the Buchanan estate.