92-Year-Old Woman Headed To Long Beach Airport Ends Up In Tijuana
SEAL BEACH (CBSLA.com) — By the time a 92-year-old woman was escorted back to Seal Beach by detectives Wednesday, she had survived an overnight ordeal so unbelievable her son is calling it a "miracle."
Shirley Reimers went missing Tuesday night after she headed to the Long Beach Airport to pick up her son, but never made it there.
"I waited and waited and by this time nobody was out there," her son said.
The California Highway Patrol ended up sending out a Silver Alert and police tracked Reimers' license plate to several locations including a gas station in La Mirada that showed she had driven all night.
Police feared the worst and Reimers' son worried his diabetic mother had been in an accident.
But finally, late Wednesday morning, a tip arrived that they never imagined they would receive.
Detectives learned that Reimers had become confused and drove to Tijuana, Mexico. She crashed her car and was stranded in a dangerous location, and that's when a young mother saved her.
"She said, 'you can't stay here.' She said, 'you're coming with me,' " recalls Reimers of the woman.
That woman is Maya Martin, the daughter of a police officer killed in the line of duty.
She spoke with CBS2 via FaceTime.
"I was worried for her because I knew that she might be scared," said Martin.
Even though her family warned her not to bring home a stranger, Martin remembered the words of her father, "to always help a stranger."
"Good people exist," said Martin. "Values are very important."
Martin took Reimers home and called police. She used the video messenger app on Facebook to PIN her location to police.
"I know that someone is watching over me," said Reimers.
