BaileyQ

I think it's because they hoped Eva LaRue would come back one day. It's why they had Maria's body never found and Edmund always remembered her. For some reason, they never wanted Gillian back, which is why they killed her off in such a permanent way and had Ryan forget that she existed. But, as I always say, it backfired on them. Viewers never forgot Gillian, and all of Ryan's other pairings were bombs. We're still here talking about them and her over twenty years later.