Sara Anne Wood

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

New York State Police (NY)

Missing From:

Litchfield, New York

Summary:

Sara Anne Wood was a 12-year-old girl from Litchfield, New York, who disappeared on August 18, 1993, while riding her bicycle home from Vacation Bible School. She was abducted and murdered by Lewis Stephen Lent Jr., who confessed to her killing in 1996 and was sentenced to 25 years to life. Her body has never been found despite numerous searches.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On the morning of August 18, 1993, Sara Anne Wood rode her bicycle from her family home to Norwich Corners Presbyterian Church in Sauquoit, New York, to attend Vacation Bible School. According to her older brother, she was in a cheerful mood, singing the Dolly Parton song "9 to 5" as she left. She was last seen at approximately 2:30 p.m. riding her bicycle up a steep hill on Hacadam Road in Frankfort, New York, on her way home from church. The location was less than half a mile from her home. She was carrying a display board, a church song book, and Vacation Bible School literature. Her pink and white ten-speed mountain bicycle was later discovered hidden in brush off the side of the road about a half mile from the Wood family home, with her personal belongings scattered nearby.

Additional Details:

Sara's disappearance sparked one of the largest missing child search operations in New York State history, with over 600 square miles searched and hundreds of officers participating. Thousands of missing persons posters were circulated across America and appeals regarding her disappearance were broadcast on 48 Hours and America's Most Wanted. Despite these efforts and a $150,000 reward offer, the case went cold for several months. The breakthrough came on January 7, 1994, when a 12-year-old girl named Rebecca Savarese managed to escape an attempted abduction by a gunman in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Police identified the suspect as Lewis Stephen Lent Jr., a 45-year-old handyman and former movie theater janitor from North Adams, Massachusetts. During interrogation, Lent confessed to abducting, sexually assaulting, and murdering Sara Anne Wood, as well as murdering 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo in 1990. Lent claimed he had buried Sara's body near Raquette Lake in New York's Adirondack Mountains and provided a hand-drawn map. This led to an extensive search in January-February 1994 involving over 50 days of searching through deep snow, but no remains were found. Lent later recanted his confession regarding her burial location, claiming he did not want authorities to disturb another body he had hidden nearby. On June 3, 1996, Lent pleaded guilty to murdering Jimmy Bernardo and was sentenced to life without parole. On October 25, 1996, he pleaded guilty to Sara's abduction, rape, and murder. On April 11, 1997, he was formally sentenced to 25 years to life for kidnapping and murdering Sara Anne Wood. Lent is currently serving his sentence in Massachusetts. Despite numerous searches over the years, most notably in the Adirondack Mountains and as recently as November 2023 in Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest, Sara's remains have never been found. Investigators continue to visit Lent in prison several times per year seeking information about her burial location. Sara's case inspired the creation of the annual Ride for Missing Children in her memory, with the event's colors being turquoise and pink—the colors she was wearing when she disappeared. Her family established the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center, which became a New York branch of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 22, 2026