Marla grew up in a very small town in Vermont. It was home to tourists mostly and was the type of place that shut down during the heavy snowy months. Marla's parents ran a fairly successful ice cream shop called The Purple Cow, named for a grape milkshake. Marla grew up in the shop, along with her two brothers, one older, one younger. With very few other kids around outside of peak season, she grew into quite the tomboy. Her grades were average and honestly, her whole childhood was quite normal. Her parents were slightly shocked when she expressed her desire to become a police officer. With her oldest brother taking over the family business and her youngest brother still not sure of his path, her parents had no problems in letting Marla persue her dreams.

Dartmouth was the closest college so Marla attended there so she could still live at home and help out occassionally with the family business. She did well in her classes, always staying right about the middle. After four years though, she decided to plunge headfirst into the big city when she enrolled in the Chicago Police Department police academy. She quickly found an apartment, sharing it with five other cadets, all male. She had no problem with this since she did grow up with two brothers. However, she did form a close bond with one cadet, Emilio Garcia.

Their relationship blossomed slowly. They lived together, went to the Academy together, eventually ended up both working as beat cops for the same precinct. Marla threw herself into her work, actually loving being a cop. She wanted more though. She wanted to work homicide as a detective. Emilio encouraged her, giving up seeing her so she could work extra hours and work with the lead homicide detective at the time, Matthew Parks. It wasn't long before she was promoted but that wasn't enough for Marla.

While Emilio was happy just working a beat, Marla wanted to work on more and more high profile cases in homicide. She started testifying as an expert witness, discussing forensics and profiling killers. She would consult on cases from other precincts. She was tracking some of the most dangerous killers in Chicago, much to Emilio's disappointment. After she was grazed in a shootout, Emilio gave her an ultamedium. Either she would step down from homicide or he would have to leave. She picked her job over him. Within a few short years, she was working with Parks himself on cases as his partner.

However, soon this pace caused Marla to burn out. She was missing clues in cases. She was becoming irritable. When a job offer in a small quiet town like the one she grew up in came into his office, Parks encouraged Marla to take the job. Agreeing with him that she was working herself too hard, she took the job offer, packed up her small walkup in Chicago, and moved to St. Solanus. She has no idea what to expect here but it has to be less stressful than The Windy City...right?