Locations known for La Llorona sightings

By Aaron Perez

Published 8/7/2025

Image Credit: Ghost City Tours

In an earlier blog, I already discussed La Llorona and her backstory, but not where she has been spotted. As a Hispanic legend, La Llorona has many versions that vary from least scary to avoid her at all costs. She also is said to appear in many forms, from a skeleton to a horse-faced creature similar to the Siguanaba of similar legend. Below are the list of locations where La Llorona has been sighted:

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Ciudad Juarez, a border city with a complex history of violence and cultural richness, is inextricably connected with the legend of La Llorona. The Rio Grande (known locally as Rio Bravo) is the location where her ghost apparitions are said to occur, and where her screams are heard piercing the night. Residents say they see and hear her weeping along the riverbanks, especially where the Rio Grande runs through the border. These sightings are often in the Chamizal, Downtown Juarez, and the Felipe Angeles district of the city. Some testimony involves a woman in white, face hidden, pacing the river's edge. Other testimonies depict her with the head of a horse, similar to the one witnessed in bordering El Paso, and is said to wail in blood curling screams. She also is known to not only target children, but foolish adults who dare wander into her domain and stabs them with a spectral knife. 

El Paso, Texas

Situated just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, El Paso shares a cultural and geographical relationship with the legend. The river that divides the two cities is a common location for La Llorona sightings to take place. Unlike Juarez however, El Paso has multiple versions of La Llorona with the first being the horse faced spirit that witnesses say roams Juarez. Other versions of La Llorona, particularly the one seen in La Hacienda restaurant which I wrote about in an earlier blog, roam the city. As I wrote in that blog, La Llorona takes the form of a bird and is said to cry for her children at the waining hours of the day, at dusk. These two aren't the only versions of La Llorona,with one being described as a regular woman crying in the middle of the night, and when confronted she would turn to the person and tell her why she is weeping only for them to notice she has no legs and is floating. The second version can be seen on the Cesar Chavez border highway, where people report seeing a woman crying moving around while cars pass by. This version of the ghost is reported to have no face and can also be seen floating around the canal banks of the Lower Valley.

Las Cruces

The city of Las Cruces, located along the Rio Grande, features La Llorona Park, a recreation center named for the legend, which suggests her cultural significance in the region. While specific sightings are less frequently reported than those in El Paso, the fact that the park is named for the legend and is on the Rio Grande makes it a prime location for La Llorona to be sighted. The banks of the river are long mentioned in local legend as where her screams could be heard. 

San Antonio

San Antonio's rich Hispanic heritage provides an active location for La Llorona stories, particularly along Woman Hollering Creek, a small stream between San Antonio and Seguin, and along the San Antonio River and River Walk. Witnesses and locals report that La Llorona is seen wandering along the San Antonio River, especially along the River Walk, and along Woman Hollering Creek, which was named for her ghostly crying. One of the stories tells that a woman drowned her children to save them from Native American assault, but now walks the creek in eternal sorrow. Her haunting is said to have involved an exorcism in hopes that she would finally rest in peace, but her mournful cries are said to be hear to this day.

Santa Fe

Santa Fe River is the focal point of La Llorona sightings, illustrating the city's rich Hispanic and Indigenous culture. Locals have seen a woman in white swimming down riverbanks, her screams heard in the evening. One of the 1930s variants describes a family observing a form that seemed to float without legs beside a creek, disappearing into thin air. She also is said to have a skeletal face and not only seeks out children but unfaithful men to steal their souls.

Mexico City

The heart of Mexican culture, is an important hub for La Llorona's legend, particularly in the Xochimilco borough, renowned for its ancient canals. While there are no known sightings within the city, the legend is brought to life in a vivid reenactment in Xochimilco, where trajineras (traditional boats) carry spectators out to a reading of La Llorona's story. Her screams are said to echo on the canals, especially around Day of the Dead. The city is also said to be the first location where La Llorona was spotted in Pre-Hispanic Mexico, where the Aztec goddess Cihuacoatl was said to mourn the loss of her children. The Spaniards then arrived and destroyed the empire and established their colony in what is mdern day Mexico. 

Another figure that is associated with La Llorona is La Malinche, a Meso-American native who was ensleved prior to being sold to Hernan Cortez. Legend says that La Malinche killed the child she had with Hernan Cortez due to realizing what she had done, and is seen roaming the palace where she used to live.

Tucson

Santa Cruz River in Tucson is the central setting for the legend of La Llorona, and the river's history of periodic flooding helps create the evil context. Accounts describe La Llorona walking the Santa Cruz River, with some sightings reporting she appears as a figure in white or even as a horse-faced monster. One version has her coming to this country from Nogales, Sonora, and her children being swept away in a flood, their bodies washing up in Tucson.

Sources: 

Azteca Ciudad Juarez. “La Llorona en Ciudad Juárez: Mitos y leyendas de terror.” Azteca Ciudad Juarez, 31 Oct. 2023, www.aztecaciudadjuarez.com/noticias/la-llorona-en-ciudad-juarez-mitos-y-leyendas-terror. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

Garcia, Nasario. “La Llorona: The Legend Continues to Haunt New Mexicans.” The Santa Fe New Mexican, 30 Oct. 2011, www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/la-llorona-the-legend-continues-to-haunt-new-mexicans/article_0f0a3a0c-6b6a-5e0a-a0d2-0aead83e2e04.html. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025. “La Llorona.” History in Santa Fe, 16 July 2020, historyinsantafe.com/la-llorona-legend/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

Hudnall, Ken, and Sharon Hudnall. Spirits of the Border V: The History and Mystery of the Lone Star State. Omega Press, 2005. Accessed 3 April 2025.

Hudnall, Ken, and Connie Wang. Spirits of the Border: The History and Mystery of El Paso Del Norte. Omega Press, 2003.

“La Llorona Trail.” Trailforks, www.trailforks.com/trails/la-llorona-trail/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

“La Llorona en Xochimilco.” La Llorona en Xochimilco, www.lalloronaencuemanco.com/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
Hernandez, J.A. “La Llorona of Mexico City.” Into Horror History, 20 Feb. 2023, www.jahernandez.com/posts/la-llorona-of-mexico-city/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025. Vega, Raúl Arturo Fernández. “Cada año en Xochimilco se recuerda la leyenda de La Llorona con una representación en algunos de sus canales.” Wikimedia Commons, 2021, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Llorona_en_Xochimilco.jpg. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

Rodarte, Christopher. “A Haunting Tale: La Llorona and the Santa Cruz River.” This Is Tucson, 5 Oct. 2016, thisistucson.com/santa-cruz-river-la-llorona/article_b4ae001a-9005-11e6-aa52-4f9efd37792d.html. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.