In California, a former US soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan has been found dead along with his girlfriend in an apparent murder-suicide. Family members say the soldier, Jacob Gregory Swanson, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental problems as a result of his time in combat. His girlfriend, Amy Rochelle Salo, was the mother of three children. An estimated eighty-eight soldiers took their lives in the first half of this year, on pace to break last year’s record of up to 143 soldier suicides.