La Tulivieja
Along the rivers of Panama, a cry is heard at night: a cursed woman, searching the water forever for the child she lost.
What was reported
La Tulivieja is a figure of Panamanian folklore, told especially in the countryside of the Azuero Peninsula. The legend says she was a young woman who left her baby by a river, and when she came back, the child had been swept away. As punishment, she was transformed into a frightening creature with long, tangled hair, a face full of holes and clawed hands.
She wanders the riverbanks at night, crying and searching for her child. In some versions she tries to take other children, and parents warn their children not to go near the water after dark.
Explanations offered
La Tulivieja is Panama's version of the weeping-woman legend found across Latin America, like La Llorona of Mexico. Folklorists see it as a story that teaches care around rivers, which are dangerous in the rainy season, and expresses deep fears about losing a child.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Azuero Peninsula, Panama
- Witnesses
- Panamanian folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.