this is one version ive been told (by my mother raised in mexico)
Basically long ago, a woman named Maria married a rich man, with whom she eventually had two children. Then their marriage hit a rough patch: her husband spent less and less time at home, and whenever he was home, he paid attention only to the children. Eventually, she sees him with another woman. Enraged beyond reason, Maria drowned her two children, depends on which version you are being told, —but she immediately regretted it, crying out, “Ay, mis hijos!”, “Oh, my children!” or “Oh, my sons!”, Maria is sometimes said to have drowned herself afterward. But when she arrived at heaven’s gates, she was denied entry, banished back to purgatory on Earth until she could find her lost children. She’s now known as La Llorona, which translates to “the weeping woman.” Now, the legend says, she floats over and near bodies of water in her white, funereal gown, forever weeping as she searches for her lost children.
things ive been told
Someone told me she kidnaps or attacks children; or told me she attacks cheating husbands. And if you hear her cries to run away as fast as you can. Also my mom said "If you hear her cries near it means she's far, but if you hear them from a distance it means she near" either way i'll run.
