Dylan's first scenes came when he crash-landed his plane off the coast of Santa Barbara, then swam to shore, where he met Julia Wainwright. Dylan was subsequently reunited with Nick and Janice. He also met Nick's girlfriend, the beautiful heiress Kelly Capwell. The chemistry between Dylan and Kelly was so electric that he couldn't help falling in love with the girl. He and Janice soon broke up.

Meanwhile, Dylan had come to Santa Barbara after finding a gold mine in Africa. His partner in this adventure was Sam Williams, who arrived in town soon after Dylan did. A dangerous crime leader named Carlo also wanted the gold and was after their map to the mine. Dylan and Sam made a fake map to fool Carlo, but that didn't work out. Later, Dylan wound up hiding in an abandoned ghost town with Kelly and the real map. When Dylan was captured by Carlo's thugs, Kelly agreed to give Carlo the map.

Following this ordeal, Dylan and Kelly felt closer. The attraction grew between the two and they slept together once during a business trip in Santa Rosa. They didn't tell Nick. Although a guilt-wracked Kelly became enaged to Nick, she still had feelings for Dylan. Dylan considered leaving Santa Barbara several times, but didn't. Meanwhile, he convinced the Capwells to let him open a casino on their deserted sea oil rig. He took charge of this casino, where his schemes included rigging the gambling tables. Among his duped customers was Warren Lockridge.

Dylan became angry when Kelly chose Nick over him. He spitefully told Nick about his one-night stand with Kelly, which made Kelly so angry that she told Nick that his brother had lied. On their wedding day, however, Kelly finally confessed to Nick that she had slept with Dylan. Although Nick was angry and broke with her, they soon began to reconcile. Around the same time, Dylan became insane and started stalking Kelly. His behavior reminded Kelly so much of her psychotic ex-lover Peter Flint that she stabbed Dylan in his leg.

One fateful day, Dylan intercepted notes from Kelly that were supposed to lead Nick to a romantic meeting in the Presidential Suite of the Capwell Hotel. Dylan showed up there with a gun and threatened Kelly. She promptly killed him in self-defense, throwing him out the high-rise building window to his death.