Widow Found Dead in Mexico Had Heart Attack

An elderly Glendale woman who mistakenly drove to Mexico and later was found dead in her car had suffered a fatal heart attack, family members said Wednesday.

Nina Bagley was discovered by a laborer near a ranch in Tijuana two days after leaving a birthday party in Tujunga on April 25, her son, Howard K. Bagley of Weatherford, Texas, said.

Mexican officials who performed an autopsy last week determined the widow died of a massive heart attack behind the wheel of her 1996 silver Buick Riviera, according to the death certificate issued in Tijuana. She had been dead two or three hours before she was found.

Exactly what caused Bagley -- who would have turned 81 on Wednesday -- to drive to Mexico remains unclear. Eight hours after leaving the party, she bought gas in Oceanside at 4 a.m. and asked for directions to Glendale. Her car crossed the Mexican border 2 1/2 hours later.

Initially, her family thought she had forgotten to take her diabetes or thyroid medicine, which could have left her disoriented.

A graduate of Eagle Rock High School, Nina Bagley met her future husband, Howard R. Bagley, at a bakery supply company where they both worked. After marrying in 1947, the couple lived in Eagle Rock until moving to Glendale in the early 1970s. She worked 32 years as a parts buyer for Burbank Aircraft until she retired in 1999.

A funeral Mass will be said at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.