Days of our Lives: Stefan DiMera Returns from the Dead – Vivian Outwits the FBI!

Days of Our Lives indicates Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash) could be very much alive and well. His mother, Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel), is definitely hiding something with regard to Stefan’s fate.

It seems like Gabi Hernandez’s (Cherie Jimenez) ex-husband could pop back up in Salem at some point.

Is Vivian Alamain Forging Stefan DiMera’s Death Documents on Days of Our Lives?

Vivian recently told Eli Grant (Lamon Archey) and Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) that her son Stefan died when his heart, which was transplanted from his identical twin Jake DiMera gave out late last year. At first, Vivian provided a photo of Stefan’s headstone in Alamainia, but that means nothing.

Vivian then provided a copy of Stefan’s death certificate, but she didn’t even file it until December 2025, two full months after Stefan supposedly died. That seems really fishy. Rafe and Eli think it’s dodgy, too.

Vivian is an expert at forging documents. Look at the mess she caused for Xander Cook (Paul Telfer) when she forged that letter from Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston) stating he wanted Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) to be his heir. That passed muster as well.

Because they were skeptical, while Rafe and Eli were doing their official business in Alamainia, they went ahead and had Stefan’s remains exhumed to get them DNA tested.

Shocking Housekeeper Testimony Reveals Stefan Was Held Captive on DOOL

While Rafe and Eli went to Alamainia to investigate the CCTV feed from the crypt, they are coming back to Salem with a lot more information than they anticipated. This week, they met up with the housekeeper that Vivian fired.

The FBI agents learned that Vivian was holding Stefan against his will up until the point that he supposedly died in captivity, which was a part they didn’t know anything about.

When Rafe and Eli first questioned the woman, they expected to hear that the man held captive in the house was Dimitri von Leuschner DiMera (Peter Porte). Vivian swore up and down that Dmitri had been an unwelcome house guest before she evicted him and sent him back to Salem without his belongings.

Instead, the housekeeper said she has no idea who Dmitri is. She told the agents that the only man she saw in the house being held was Stefan and that he was in good health. He was trying to stay fit in captivity and mentioned missing his wife.

Vivian Alamain’s Devious Plot to Separate Gabi Hernandez and Stefan DiMera on Days

The housekeeper said that was a year ago, roughly eight to ten months before he died. When Rafe and Eli told her that Stefan had passed away, the ex-housekeeper seemed shocked. According to her, Stefan hadn’t seemed sick while she was still working for Vivian.

Now Rafe knows that Stefan didn’t leave Salem willingly and he never wanted to divorce Gabi. He was taken from her and Vivian is the culprit. The audience knows that Stefan wanted to reconcile with Gabi and work on their marriage.

That’s when Vivian’s manservant, Ivan Marais (Ivan G’Vera), knocked Stefan out, stuffed him in the trunk of his car, and hijacked him off to Alamainia. Vivian wanted to control Stefan’s life and never approved of his marriage to Gabi.

Vivian probably wouldn’t accept that any woman was good enough for her son. We even saw Vivian forge Stefan’s signature on the divorce decree that she dropped off to Gabi before she left town.

Will Gabi Hernandez Abandon Philip Kiriakis for Stefan DiMera?

Now, over a year later, Gabi still thinks her ex-husband wanted to leave her and Salem far behind. She is currently grieving his supposed death. I can’t wait until Gabi learns that Stefan was held captive by his mom and actually wanted to be with her.

I do feel bad for Philip, though. He’s been really supportive of Gabi’s feelings about her late husband. Wait until Gabi finds out that she was cheated out of a future with Stefan; that is going to sting.

Gabi and Philip are also about to take a romantic Miami getaway. This news could put some strain on their budding relationship. I think Gabi would drop Philip like a hot rock and take Stefan back if he popped back up in Salem.

The Twin Switch: Could Jake DiMera Be in Stefan DiMera’s Grave?

The way Vivian was pulling faces when Eli and Rafe were questioning her makes me think she is still hiding something. I don’t really think Stefan is dead. I think he may be very much alive, and maybe Vivian shipped him off somewhere to hide him before Rafe and Eli showed up.

It would have been really risky for Vivian to keep Stefan at the estate while the FBI was searching the premises. Rafe and Eli should learn from the FBI lab that the DNA from the exhumed remains is a match for Stefan.

While that makes it look like he’s definitely dead, he had an identical twin brother, Jake, who is also dead and would be a DNA match as well. Vivian could have put Jake’s remains in Stefan’s coffin. I wonder if Rafe and Eli will think to check Jake’s grave, too.

Vivian Alamain and Peter Blake’s Master Plan for the DiMera Estate on Days of Our Lives

If Stefan really did die in October, then Vivian had no motive to work with Peter Blake (Jason Brooks) to orchestrate the DiMera kidnappings. It now seems pretty clear that Vivian was at least a partner in this crime, if not the mastermind.

Without Stefan being alive, Vivian wouldn’t participate because she wouldn’t have a chance to get hold of any of Stefano DiMera’s (Joseph Mascolo) estate. I suspect Vivian lied and said Stefan was dead so she and Peter could discuss divvying up the estate.

Then, Stefan could reappear alive and he and Peter could run the DiMera company together as two of the few DiMeras left if they had killed everyone else in the crypt as planned.

Days of Our Lives Spoilers: The Fallout of Stefan DiMera’s Return

At this point, there are so many red flags that we can say Stefan DiMera is probably alive. I’m going to give it a 98% probability. Plus, people rarely stay dead on Days of Our Lives.

Once Gabi and Philip commit to each other, that’s the perfect time for Stefan to make his escape from wherever Vivian has stashed him. He will likely run from his wicked mom and come back to Salem looking to reunite with Gabi.

If Stefan is alive, there’s going to be a whole lot of fallout. Philip could wind up being collateral damage, which would be ironic because he’s co-CEO of Titan specifically because of Vivian’s chicanery.

I expect a lot more twists and turns very soon because Rafe is pushing for answers. Once he’s back from Alamainia, Rafe is going to confirm to Gabi that Stefan is dead based on the DNA results. But those results could be accurate yet misleading if Jake’s remains were in that grave.