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Missing Apple Valley Woman's Dog Found, But She Is Still Missing

APPLE VALLEY (CBSLA.com) — A high school teacher from Apple Valley reported missing more than three weeks ago still has not turned up. But her family said they just learned her dog has been found safe.

Christina Bastian, 34, was last seen the early morning of Nov. 1 after leaving a friend's house in Apple Valley. According to her mother, Cheryl Denny, Bastian left her friend's house in Apple Valley at about 1:45 a.m. with her dog 'Coco.'

"She loved that little puppy. She would take her everywhere with her," Bastian's mother said. Bastian teaches English at Silverado High School in Victorville.

According to Denny, a driver found Coco later that morning on the side of the road near the intersection of Bear Valley Road and Highway 18.

The family had no idea Coco had been found until Monday night when a friend spotted a picture of the pooch on a website for lost dogs. Denny said she will be reunited Wednesday with Coco, who she said makes her feel closer to her daughter. "Just gave me a little more hope."

Later that day on Nov.1, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies located Bastian's damaged Dodge Ram pickup truck abandoned near Valley View Road and Twentynine Palms Highway in Morongo Valley.

"It was totally empty. And it was scratched up and down both sides. It was dented," Denny said.

On the same day, Bastian's belongings, including her guitar, jewelry boxes and photographs, were found strewn along a highway in Johnson Valley.

"Always in the back of my mind is: Where is Christina? What is she doing now? And is she OK?" Denny worried. "It's scary. It's really scary."

She said her daughter is bipolar, but her doctor said she was doing fine. "Everybody loved Christina, but there's just a lot of evil people," Denny said.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Apple Valley Sheriff's Station at (760)-240-7400. You can also leave an anonymous tip on the WeTip Hotline at 800-782-7463 or on wetip.com

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