NAACP delegates from across the country gathered Monday in Detroit to bury the "N" word in a pine box under a bouquet of fake black roses.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The mother of a 3-year-old boy who wandered along an interstate highway while she slept in their apartment pleaded guilty to three counts of child neglect Monday and faces up to two years in prison.

Nancy Dyer, a 31-year-old mother of two pregnant with another child, admitted she had placed her son, Damon Stewart, and his younger sister in danger by sleeping while the children were without supervision. The boy, wearing only a soiled diaper and a Superman T-shirt, slipped out of their apartment Dec. 30, walked around a fence and onto Interstate 465 on the city's west side.

Under a plea agreement reached Monday morning before Dyer's trial was to begin, prosecutors agreed to seek no more than two years in prison when Dyer is sentenced Aug. 20.

The children now are living with other relatives while child welfare authorities determine Dyer's suitability as a parent.

DETROIT — There was no mourning at this funeral.

Hundreds of onlookers cheered Monday afternoon as the NAACP put to rest a long-standing expression of racism by holding a public burial for the N-word during its annual convention.

Delegates from across the country marched from downtown Detroit's Cobo Center to Hart Plaza. The coffin is to be placed at historically black Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery and will have a headstone.

"Today we're not just burying the N-word, we're taking it out of our spirit," said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "We gather burying all the things that go with the N-word. We have to bury the 'pimps' and the 'hos' that go with it."

FITCHBURG — Investigators believe a body found in a field Monday is that of a college student who vanished last month in Madison, where the woman was last seen after a night out at the bars.

Police searching an area about 10 miles south of Madison found the body on private property in a wooded area dotted with homes. Dane County Coroner John Stanley said it was tentatively identified as 22-year-old Kelly Nolan, and Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said the case is being investigated as a homicide.

WASHINGTON — The first skin patch to treat the dementia that can plague Alzheimer's patients gained federal approval, a drug company said Monday.

The drug in the patch, called Exelon or rivastigmine, is the same as that now available in capsule form but provides a regular and continuous dose throughout the day, according to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

The drug is meant to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate dementia in patients with Alzheimer's disease. It also won Food and Drug Administration approval to treat patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease dementia, Novartis said.

WASHINGTON — Sen. David Vitter, R-La., apologized Monday night for "a very serious sin in my past" after his telephone number appeared among those associated with an escort service operated by the so-called "D.C. Madam."

Vitter's spokesman, Joel Digrado, confirmed the statement in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press.

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in the statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there — with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter, 46, a Republican in his first Senate term, was elected to the Senate in 2004. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.

Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.