COLUMBUS — An Indiana man said his son was one of two American service members killed in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan.

Mark Hunter said the Indiana National Guard informed him Wednesday night that his son, U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathon Michael Hunter, 23, died in Wednesday’s attack on a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan.

Hunter said Thursday that his son, who was married, was 32 days into his first deployment and was providing security for the convoy that was attacked.

The Columbus man said his son grew up in the city and was “a loving kid who put everybody else first.”

Hunter was a member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C.

LAFAYETTE — Authorities said they’ve preliminarily identified a man whose badly decomposed body was found in a Lafayette drainage ditch.

The Tippecanoe County coroner’s office said Thursday it has notified relatives of the man and is awaiting forensic testing to provide positive identification of the man before releasing his name.

The coroner’s office said the body is that of a white man who was in his 30s.

A surveying crew found the body Monday on the city’s south side.

Investigators have said there is no evidence of foul play in the death. Coroner Donna Avolt has said there were no signs of trauma to the body.

INDIANAPOLIS — A report has found an increase in the amount of children dying from neglect and abuse in Indiana.

The Indiana Department of Child Services’ report said nearly 80 children died from neglect or abuse in fiscal year 2015. That’s up from nearly 70 deaths in 2014 and almost 50 deaths in 2013.

The report said the fatalities were caused by gunshot wounds, drug misuse, beatings and unsafe sleep practices. Nearly half of the deaths were homicides, and a third of them were accidents.

The report found that poverty and drug use were factors in many of the deaths.

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana education officials are expecting to provide schools with results from this year’s ISTEP standardized exams in mid-August, weeks earlier than a year ago.

The state Education Department plans on giving test results to schools Aug. 16. Those tests were taken in last spring by more than 400,000 students across the state.

School districts received results of the spring 2016 exams in September and October last year. That followed troubles blamed on the state’s previous testing company which delayed results of the spring 2015 exams until January 2016.

State schools Superintendent Jennifer McCormick told WISH-TV the earlier results will help schools and teachers better prepare student instruction and teacher evaluations.

Statewide ISTEP results are expected to be reported to the State Board of Education next month.

SOUTH BEND — South Bend police said two people were fatally shot and two others were wounded in an overnight shooting.

Officers called to the scene late Wednesday found a crashed car with a dead person inside with apparent gunshot wounds. Another person was found dead nearby, also with apparent gunshot wounds. Two other people wounded in the shooting were taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

WSBT-TV reported neighbors said they heard a barrage of gunshots that sounded like fireworks about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. Two men were arrested at the scene, one on a drug charge, the other on a felon in possession of a firearm charge.

MUNCIE — Problems with bus transportation on the first day of school in a central Indiana school district have prompted officials to cancel classes for a day. Muncie Community Schools said in a statement that schools were closed Thursday as staff, the district’s new transportation company and others review transportation plans. The district apologized for the inconvenience and said it wants to ensure it avoids future problems.

Many parents reported buses were late picking up students Wednesday morning and some parents ended up driving their children to school.

Superintendent Steve Baule said at Southside Middle School about 20 students weren’t picked up as planned.

The Star Press reported the school district deployed mini-buses driven by security staff to pick up children left behind.

—Associated Press