In the late summer of 1993, a heart-wrenching tragedy struck the small community of Sauquoit, New York, forever changing the lives of the Wood family. Twelve-year-old Sara Anne Wood, a Caucasian female with shoulder-length curly brown hair and blue eyes, vanished on August 18th while riding her bicycle home from Norwich Corners Church. The last time her older brother saw her, she was cheerfully singing a Dolly Parton song before heading off to her father's church.
Sara was last seen at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Hacadam Road, less than half a mile from the safety of her home.
When Sara failed to return home, her concerned family promptly reported her missing, sparking an intensive search in and around the rural community. Weeks turned into months with no sign of the young girl, leaving her family and the tight-knit community in a state of agonizing uncertainty. The break in the case came in January 1994, when a janitor named Lewis Stephen Lent Jr. confessed to abducting, sexually assaulting, and murdering Sara. His confession brought a devastating end to the search for Sara but marked the beginning of a new chapter of grief and a long quest for justice.
Lent's confession revealed the horrifying details of Sara's final hours. He admitted to kidnapping her at knifepoint as she walked with her bicycle, the chain having broken. He then drove her to the Adirondack Mountains, where he committed the heinous acts before taking her life. Despite his confession, the full measure of justice and closure remained elusive for the Wood family, as Lent refused to reveal the location of Sara's remains. In addition to Sara's murder, Lent also confessed to the 1990 murder of another 12-year-old, James Bernardo. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison for Bernardo's murder and 25 years to life for Sara's abduction and murder.
In the wake of their unimaginable loss, the Wood family channeled their grief into creating a lasting legacy for Sara. They established the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center, which later became the Mohawk Valley branch of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. To honor Sara's memory and raise funds for the center, her father and brother, along with other cyclists, began an annual bike ride from Utica to Washington, D.C., on National Missing Children's Day. A tree was also planted in her honor at Sauquoit Valley Middle School, where a plaque was later installed by the classmates she would have graduated with in 1999.
