Unsolved Mystery: Abduction Of Sara Anne Wood In Central New York On “48 Hours”
The tragic abduction of Sara Anne Wood from a rural Central New York road is getting national attention.
The kidnapping over 30 years ago will be featured on the 37th season premiere of "48 Hours".
Sara vanished on August 18, 1993 while riding her bike home from bible school at Norwich Corners Church on Roberts Road. Her abductor, Lewis S. Lent Jr. eventually confessed to kidnapping and murdering Sara while in custody for another child crime. He's currently serving a life sentence without parole and refuses to give the location of Sara's body.
Lent claimed he buried Sara's body in the Adirondacks but when he drew a map of the burial site, extensive searches turned up nothing. Sara’s body still hasn't been recovered but the search continues over 30 years later.
She was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt with the words "Guess Who" on the front, turquoise blue shorts, and brown sandals.
Ride for Missing Children
Sara's heartbreaking story started a movement. A small group of bicyclists wanting to raise awareness about the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center rode from Utica, New York to the U.S. Capitol in teal and pink jerseys on May 25, 1995, National Missing Children’s Day,
What began as a small group of bicyclists raising awareness has grown each year as thousands join “The Ride for Missing Children,” raising money for The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Two colors have been added to the Ride for Missing Children jersey – white to represent all missing children and purple to salute law enforcement, who continue searching for Sara.
48 Hours
The CBS show will feature footage from police press conferences, searches through the woods, and pleas from Sara's parents for help in finding her.
The kidnapping happened 2 weeks before Sara's older brother Dusty Wood would turn 17. "It can't imagine anything that could be any more life changing," he tells 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty.
The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood will air on Saturday, September 21 at 9 PM EST.
"Finding the body is important because then my mother could know where she is."
Take a sneak peak of the premiere episode of 48 Hours.