On Saturday, September 21, CBS will broadcast the 37th season premiere of “48 Hours,” titled “The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood.” The episode examines the story of 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood, who vanished on August 18, 1993, while returning home from church in Sauquoit, New York. The prime suspect, Lewis Lent, a handyman and former movie theater janitor, is currently serving time in prison for her murder. However, he has consistently refused to disclose the location of Sara’s body to investigators.
Dusty Wood, Sara’s brother, shares the ongoing impact of his sister’s disappearance 30 years later in an exclusive interview with correspondent Erin Moriarty. He talks about the importance of finding her remains for their mother’s peace of mind. The case has been extensively covered by the “48 Hours” team since the initial search, including an interview with 12-year-old Becky Savarese in 1994. Becky narrowly escaped kidnapping by Lent and provided crucial information to authorities, helping to crack the Wood case.
Retired New York State Police detective Frank Lawrence provides insight into Lent’s disturbing “master plan,” which involved abducting vulnerable individuals and keeping them alive in a coffin-like space for his own twisted purposes. Despite Lent’s confession and a map he drew to the alleged burial site in the Adirondack Mountains, extensive searches by police have yielded no results. The question remains: was Lent toying with the investigators?
New York State Police detectives remain relentless in their pursuit of justice and continue to visit Lent in prison, hoping to obtain information about Sara’s remains and any potential additional victims. Their recent searches in rural areas connected to Lent, including Pownal, Vermont, and Lanesborough, Massachusetts, have been unsuccessful.
Dusty Wood, meanwhile, chooses to channel his energy into spreading awareness about child abductions and protecting children from predators like Lewis Lent.
“48 Hours:” “The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood” airs Saturday, Sept. 21, at 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
