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Many people tell different stories about the lady who haunts the resacas (old river beds) in the Valley. They usually sound similar to each other. The stories are usually about a humble lady who lived in a very, very poor neighborhood. Along with her lived her three children and her husband. During the day, she went off to work as a housekeeper. It was a wretched life and everyday seemed to get worse.
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When her husband would come home, things seemed to get better. One day, when he returned home from work, he told them that he was leaving the family for another woman. That was too much for her to bear. She glanced at the river below her. She figured that her children could not go on living in the poor conditions that were ahead of them. She believed that they would be better off in heaven. God would take care of them more than anyone would. They would be happy forever. Without thinking she pushed all three of her children off the cliff into the resaca below. They tumbled into the water below. After a while the bodies stopped floating and disappeared. She smiled for the first time in months, satisfied that she had fulfilled her duty. She could practically see them in heaven with shiny halos. She fell asleep happy.
The next morning, she looked around for her children not knowing what she had done. Where were their hugs, kisses, their tears? When she came to, she realized what she had done. Wanting to see them, she plunged herself into the river and drowned. It is said that when it is a full moon, you can still hear the sobbing and moaning of a woman, along the resaca. Could it be the "llorona" who is still looking for her children?