Lewis Lent is accused of killing two children in Massachusetts and New York, including 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood. But the investigator still does not know where he buried her.
Here’s a timeline of this decade’s saga.
October 22, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo disappeared
the Bernardo family
James “Jimmy” Bernardo, 12, is missing. He was last seen outside the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, around 5:00 p.m. Jimmy never returned home, and his parents called the police that evening.
November 21, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo’s body is found
Hunters found Jimmy Bernardo’s body off a dirt road in rural Newfield, New York, about 200 miles from Pittsfield. Evidence at the scene indicated he was murdered.
November 6, 1992: Jamie Lusher disappears
Handouts
Jamie Lusher, a 16-year-old with disabilities, was last seen in Westfield, Massachusetts, riding his bike to his grandmother’s house. Jamie’s bike was found six days later in a field on a dead end road in Westfield.
August 18, 1993: Sara Anne Wood disappears
Dusty wood
12-year-old Sara Anne Wood was last seen returning home from Vacation Bible School in rural Sauquoit, New York. His family began searching for him after he failed to return home.
New York State Police
Later that day, Sara’s bike was found by a neighbor hidden in the brush on the side of the road about half a mile down the road from the Wood family home. The police were called and in the evening, a massive search effort began.
January 7, 1994: A kidnapping attempt leads to a major break in some cases
CBS News
Five months after Sara disappeared, someone tried to kidnap the 12-year-old Becky Savarese as he walked to school through downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Becky escaped the attack and later that day the 43-year-old suspect named Lewis Lent was questioned by the police.
New York State Police
When questioned, Lewis Lent told police he worked as a part-time clerk at the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center, where Jimmy Bernardo was last seen in 1990. Authorities suspect he has more than one-time offender on his hands. and Lent were later arrested on charges related to the Becky Savarese case.
A teletype was sent to law enforcement agencies in the area, including the New York State Police who arrived in Pittsfield that evening to question Sara Wood.
Photo evidence
After hours of questioning over the next two days, Lewis Lent confessed to the murders of Sara Wood and Jimmy Bernardo. Lent also tells us some interesting details about the “master plan”. He built a large wooden partition in the bedroom to lock the victim in after the kidnapping.
January 10, 1994: Investigators begin searching for Sara Wood in the Adirondack Mountains
New York State Police
A large cross-country search party descended on the area near Raquette Lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains to search the area using Lent’s description and a hand-drawn map where he claimed to have buried Sara Wood. After more than 50 days of searching through deep snow, authorities called off the effort.
On the same day, Lewis was indicted in Massachusetts on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in the Becky Savarese case and pleaded not guilty.
February 14, 1994: Lewis Lent is charged with the murder of Jimmy Bernardo
More than three years after the death of Jimmy Bernardo, Lender was indicted by a grand jury for kidnapping and killing the boy. He was arraigned the same day and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
January 7, 1995: Lent is found guilty of attempting to kidnap Becky Savarese
A year after Becky Savarese escaped, Lent was found guilty of attempted kidnapping after a four-day trial. The next day, he was sentenced to 17 to 20 years.
May 25, 1995: Father Sara Wood biked 600 miles to Washington, DC.
Sara Wood’s father, Bob Wood and brother Dusty Wood, arrived in Washington DC after cycling 600 miles from New York to raise money and awareness for missing children and abduction prevention. This was converted into an annual shortened version that continues.
June 3, 1996: Lent pleads guilty to murdering Jimmy Bernardo
The day before he tried to start to kill Jimmy Bernardo, he made a surprise reverse and pleaded guilty. This won’t be the last time Pasa surprises the courtroom. The judge immediately sentenced Pasa to life in prison without parole.
June 7, 1996: Fast arrives in Herkimer, NY, to face charges in the murder of Sara Anne Wood
WKTV
In a few days after pleading guilty to the murder of Jimmy Bernardo, lent came to the bullet proof vest for media frenzy in Herkimer County, New York, to face charges for the kidnapping and murder of Sara Wood. However, it took months before justice was served.
October 16, 1996: Lewis Lent enters plea
Sources at the time said Lent intended to plead guilty at the trial, but changed his mind and pleaded not guilty. “It was his understanding that when he walked into the courtroom, he saw certain members of the public, especially I think his family, that he decided that day that he didn’t want to enter a plea,” said Herkimer County district attorney Jeffrey. Carpenter, told “48 Hours.”
October 25, 1996: Lender changes his mind – again
Lender decided to plead guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood. However, authorities say Lent continues to deny the Wood family closure by refusing to give up the whereabouts of Sara’s body.
April 11, 1997: Lewis Lent is sentenced
AP
At Lent’s sentencing hearing, Wood’s family and the Herkimer County district attorney later gave impact statements. Despite all 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 is far from over for the investigators, who continue to visit Lent in prison in the hope of uncovering where he buried Sara and possibly revealing the murders of other victims.
July 15, 2013: Massachusetts authorities announced Lewis Lent confessed to killing Jamie Lusher
Berkshire Eagle / Ben Garver
At a press conference in Westfield, Massachusetts, authorities announced Lent confessed to killing Jamie Lusher. The day after this press conference, investigators searched Greenwater Pond in Becket, Massachusetts, where Lent told them Jamie’s body was thrown. However, search efforts were unsuccessful and Jamie’s body remained missing.
As he had done many times before, Pasa would retract his confession. The authorities decided not to charge him with Jamie’s murder, hoping that one day they would lead him to the body.
That same month, New York authorities were granted permission to bring Lent back to New York to show where he said he placed Sara Wood’s body. But after three days and more than 600 miles of driving, the operation ended without finding Sara and she was sent back to Massachusetts.
November 2023: Investigators search a rural area in Vermont
New York State Police
Based on information provided by Lent to investigators, another search was conducted in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, across the Massachusetts border. A search effort, this time again for Sara Wood, also ended with no body being found.
2024: Dusty Wood continues to ride his bike for missing children
CBS News
“48 Hour” cameras join Sara Wood’s brother, Dusty Wood, and other participants in the annual bike race called Ride for Missing Children. Refusing to let a family tragedy slow him down, Dusty devotes his energy to honoring his sister and spreading awareness to prevent child abduction.
June 18, 2024: Search for old houses connected with Lent
Authorities are searching a property in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, linked to Pasa. This property had been searched before in the 1990s and was a friend of Pasa. Fasting has done some work in the basement of the house.
