Harring was born in Los Mochis , Sinaloa , Mexico on March 3 , 1964 . Her mother , María Elena Martínez-Cairo , is a spiritual teacher , real estate investor , and former secretary . Her father , Raymond Herring , was a developer and organic farmer of Austrian-German descent . The two divorced in 1971 . Harring lived the first ten years of her life in Mexico , before her family relocated to San Antonio , Texas . Harring suffered a head wound from a .45 bullet when she was caught by stray fire from a driveby shooting at age 12 . At age 16 , she convinced her family to let her study in Switzerland at Aiglon College . She eventually returned to the United States , settling down in El Paso , Texas and entered the world of beauty pageants . She won the title of Miss El Paso USA , and soon after , Miss Texas USA , ultimately going on to win the title of Miss USA 1985 . Harring spent the next year traveling through Asia , exploring Europe and working as a social worker in India
Miss USA 1985
Miss USA 1985
Laura Harring