Three months after Taylor J. Baune married his high school sweetheart, the 21-year-old Marine corporal from Andover was killed in Afghanistan on a foot patrol. "I am trying to hang in there," his wife, Colleen Baune, 20, told the Pioneer Press. "I think everyone is still in shock." They met when they were students at Anoka High School.

The remains of Navy Lt. William E. Swanson, a 27-year-old pilot from Minnesota whose plane went down in 1965 during the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors Monday at Ft. Snelling.

After a long wait, the remains of Navy Lieutenant William Swanson are home in Minnesota. Swanson's plane was shot down in 1965 and until recently he was listed as missing in action. But his remains were finally identified near a village in Laos and Monday family members saw Swanson buried with full military honors. Flags will fly at half-staff Tuesday in his honor.

Minnesota is on pace for one of the safest years for pedestrians in a decade. Last year, October marked the deadliest month for pedestrians with seven deaths. Officials are hoping for a safer fall in 2011.

The hijacker known as D.B. Cooper leaped from a 727 with $200,000 over Washington state 40 years ago today and became a folk legend. The case remains a mystery. Dozens of people around the country--including Minnesota--speculate family members or acquaintances bear resemblance to the infamous robber.

Twenty-three pedestrians have been killed so far by vehicles in 2012, making it the deadliest year in the last five, the Star Tribune reports. Among the latest victims was Cléo Thiberge, a 19-year-old college student from France who had just arrived in the Twin Cities when she was struck by a vehicle in St. Paul.