phyllis (died october 24, 2006) was one of the more prominent maids who worked for the crane family. a young, widowed mother, phyllis worked the low-pay job to support her young daughter, lonnie. she was first seen in 2002 and was promoted to the position of theresa crane's maid after theresa won her court battle to be declared mrs. julian crane. theresa's benevolent personality, so unlike most of the other cranes, touched phyllis, and she became her staunch supporter. once theresa gave birth to her son, little ethan, phyllis doubled as both theresa's maid and little ethan's nanny. after julian and theresa's wedding was revealed to be invalid, julian married rebecca hotchkiss, and they seized custody of little ethan; phyllis felt sorry for theresa and helped her sneak into the mansion to see her son, despite the fact that rebecca had put a restraining order on theresa. rebecca discovered what phyllis had done and fired her as little ethan's nanny, though she was allowed to remain a part of the mansion's staff. phyllis eventually became sheridan crane's personal maid at her cottage. while cleaning the cottage, phyllis discovered a document bearing the omega symbol and revealing sheridan's husband chris's connection to the plot. before phyllis could tell anyone, spike lester, also a part of the scheme, broke into the cottage and strangled phyllis to death, stealing the document. phyllis's murder remains unsolved.