For generations on San Antonio's South Side, hearing the tale of the Donkey Lady or driving out to the old Elm Creek bridge late at night has served as an unofficial rite of passage.

Local lore long warned of a disfigured, vengeful figure haunting the woods around the bridge off Old Applewhite Road.

Two San Antonio natives, a popular author and an artist, are peeling back the layers of that urban legend, unearthing a tragic human story buried beneath the myth.