Lewis Lent was convicted of murdering two children in Massachusetts and New York, including 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood. But investigators still don’t know where he buried her.
Below is a timeline of this decades-long story.
October 22, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo disappears
Bernardo family
James “Jimmy” Bernardo, 12, is missing. He was last seen outside the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, around 5 p.m. Jimmy never returned home and his parents called police later that evening.
November 21, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo’s body is discovered
Hunters stumble upon the body of Jimmy Bernardo on a dirt road in rural Newfield, New York, about 200 miles from Pittsfield. Evidence at the scene showed he had been murdered.
November 6, 1992: Jamie Lusher Disappears
Handout sheet
Jamie Lusher, a 16-year-old with a disability, was last seen in Westfield, Massachusetts, riding his bike to his grandmother’s house. Jamie’s bike was discovered six days later in a field on a dead-end road in Westfield.
August 18, 1993: Sara Anne Wood Disappears
Dusty wood
Sara Anne Wood, 12, was last seen making the short trip home from Vacation Bible School in rural Sauquoit, New York. Her family began searching for her after she failed to return.
New York State Police
Later that day, Sara’s bicycle was discovered by a neighbor, hidden in the brush along the side of the road, about a half mile from the Woods’ home. Police were called, and a large-scale search began in the early evening.
January 7, 1994: An attempted kidnapping leads to a major breakthrough in several cases
CBS News
Five months after Sara’s disappearance, a man tried to kidnap the 12-year-old Becky Savarese while walking to school in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Becky escaped the attack and later that day a 43-year-old suspect named Lewis Lent was questioned by police.
New York State Police
During his interrogation, Lewis Lent tells police that he worked part-time as a janitor at the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center, the last place Jimmy Bernardo was seen in 1990. Authorities suspected they may have more than one perpetrator in their ranks, and Lent was later arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Becky Savarese case.
A telex was sent to law enforcement agencies in the area, including the New York State Police, who arrived in Pittsfield later that evening to question Lent about Sara Wood.
Proof photo
After hours of interrogation over the next two days, Lewis Lent confessed to the murders of Sara Wood and Jimmy Bernardo. Lent also told them chilling details about his “master plan.” He was building a large wooden partition in his bedroom to lock his victims in after he had abducted them.
January 10, 1994: Searchers begin searching for Sara Wood in the Adirondack Mountains
New York State Police
A large, statewide search party descends on an area near Raquette Lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains to search an area using Lent’s description and hand-drawn map of the spot where he claimed to have buried Sara Wood. After more than 50 days of arduous searching through deep snow, authorities call off the effort.
On the same day, Lewis Lent is charged in Massachusetts with kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in the Becky Savarese case. He pleads not guilty.
February 14, 1994: Lewis Lent is charged with the murder of Jimmy Bernardo
More than three years after Jimmy Bernardo’s death, Lent was indicted by a grand jury for kidnapping and murdering the boy. He was arraigned the same day and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
January 7, 1995: Lent is found guilty of the attempted kidnapping of Becky Savarese
A year after Becky Savarese escaped, Lent was found guilty of her attempted kidnapping after a four-day trial. The next day, he was sentenced to 17 to 20 years.
May 25, 1995: Sara Woods’ father bikes 600 miles to Washington, DC.
Sara Wood’s father Bob Wood and brother Dusty Wood arrive in Washington DC after biking 600 miles from upstate New York to raise money and awareness for missing children and kidnapping prevention. This ride was converted into an annual shortened version that continues to this day.
June 3, 1996: Lent pleads guilty to the murder of Jimmy Bernardo
The day before his trial for the murder of Jimmy Bernardo was to begin, Lent made a surprising reversal of his sentence and pleaded guilty. This would not be the last time Lent surprised a courtroom. The judge immediately sentenced Lent to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
June 7, 1996: Lent arrives in Herkimer, NY, to stand trial for the murder of Sara Anne Wood
WKTV
Within days of pleading guilty to the murder of Jimmy Bernardo, Lent arrived in a bulletproof vest amid a media storm in Herkimer County, New York, to stand trial for the kidnapping and murder of Sara Wood. But it would be months before justice could be served.
October 16, 1996: Lewis Lent makes a request
Sources at the time said Lent had planned to plead guilty at his trial, but changed his mind and entered a not guilty plea. “My understanding is that when he walked into the courtroom, he saw certain members of the public, specifically I think her family, so he decided that day that he did not want to enter a plea,” current Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter told “48 Hours.”
October 25, 1996: Lent Changes Its Mind – Again
Lent decided to plead guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood. However, authorities say Lent continued to deny the Wood family by not telling them where Sara’s body is.
April 11, 1997: Lewis Lent is convicted
AP
During Lent’s sentencing hearing, the Wood family and the then-Herkimer County District Attorney gave impact statements. Despite requests to reveal where he buried Sara, Lent remained silent. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood. He was sent back to Massachusetts to serve the rest of his life in prison. But the job wasn’t done for investigators, who continued to visit Lent in prison in hopes that he would reveal where he buried Sara and perhaps reveal the murders of other victims.
July 15, 2013: Massachusetts authorities announce that Lewis Lent murdered Jamie Lusher
Berkshire Eagle/Ben Garver
At a press conference in Westfield, Massachusetts, authorities announce that Lent has confessed to the murder of Jamie Lusher. In the days following the press conference, detectives searched Greenwater Pond in Becket, Massachusetts, where Lent told them he had disposed of Jamie’s body. The search was unsuccessful, and Jamie’s body remains missing.
As he had done many times before, Lent would later recant his confession. Authorities decided not to charge Lent with Jamie’s murder, hoping that he would one day lead them to his body.
That same month, New York authorities were given permission to bring Lent back to New York to point out where he said he had placed Sara Wood’s body. But after three days and more than 600 miles of driving, the operation ended without finding Sara, and Lent was sent back to Massachusetts.
November 2023: Researchers scour rural Vermont area
New York State Police
Based on information Lent provided to investigators, another search was conducted in Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, just across the Massachusetts border. The search, again for Sara Wood, also ended without a body being found.
2024: Dusty Wood continues cycling for missing children
CBS News
The “48 Hours” cameras joined Sara Wood’s brother, Dusty Wood, and other participants in the annual Ride for Missing Children. Refusing to let a family tragedy slow him down, Dusty is pouring his energy into honoring his sister and raising awareness to help prevent child abductions.
June 18, 2024: Search of former home in connection with Lent
Authorities are searching a home in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, that is connected to Lent. The home had been searched before in the 1990s and belonged to a then-boyfriend of Lent. Lent had done some work in the basement of the home.
