00:00:00
[Music] [Applause] I have visible holes in my memory from when I was a kid you know
00:00:19
trauma and it's a different kind of trauma because there's a monster involved it's 30 years later
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I can't imagine many things that are as terribly lifechanging I was two weeks away from
00:00:39
my 17th birthday what could I have done and what could I have done okay I've got the
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command on the phone down there a week ago today uh Sarah wood 12-year-old left this church and was
00:00:55
traveling a short distance about a mile to her home she made it about halfway and uh we found her bicycle at around
00:01:03
4:30 that afternoon I am Dusty wood I am Sarah's older brother I was 16 when she was abducted
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in 1993 we need to know where Sarah is please help us find her when I got a call from my sergeant that there was a
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missing girl he didn't say Runway he said missing child which was unusual so I immedately imately drove up there this
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is a church uh that Sarah's father was pastor at at the time the day that this happened she was here doing school work
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tell me where she rode she would have gone right out out here and right down this road so this is where she took a
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turn yep her her house is not too far up here on the left this is the area where
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the bicycle was found I remember that moment I'm standing next to my mother and that's when you know it's all
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over it's all over [Music] [Music] post we set up a station there we could do everything out of that Church Des
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send right up in here there were troopers from all over the state state there days went
00:02:18
by weeks months right would either one of you have ever guessed the turn this case would take on January 7th 1994 no
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and this was still back in the day where teletypes would come across one came over that about an abduction or
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attempted abduction in Massachusetts 12 year-old uh Rebecca Savar she's simply walking to school she's approached by a
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stranger who puts a gun to her and that broke the entire case she's the key she's the Lynch pin she she's what made
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it all happen she got away okay that's what put us on to Louis L LS lent came across as just kind of an ordinary guy
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he was a handyman man I don't think anybody would have ever conceived that he was doing what he was
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doing I'm Julia cowy retired FBI agent and profiler he was prepared with duct tape he had a gun with him he had a
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knife with him he had rope with him so he was always ready he's a child predator you he enjoyed going out and
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driving around and in his words hunting for children he killed sir andwood he did confess to
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it but we don't have sir's body finding the body is important because then my mother could know where she
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is do you think lisis lent will give that up I don't know if he does it won't be out of the goodness of his heart he
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does have a lot to hide [Music] [Music] my sister's life ended and I couldn't stop
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that someone hurt her and took her life I know at the time I felt like I could have done something but I
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couldn't she was an exuberant person she was excited to be alive it's been a little over three decades since his
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12-year-old little sister disappeared but for Dusty wood memories of Sarah have not faded with time morning Sarah
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what morning good morning you ready to eat no I was to here play video games every picture you see of her it's like a
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big beaming smile those bright blue eyes Dusty says the two of them had a lot in
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common I'm an extrovert she's pretty extroverted she's not a person in the background she's stuck out hey Dad Dad
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over here she is funny I imagine she would be funny now on August 18th 1993 Dusty then just 16 years old was
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enjoying a lazy summer day with his family in seyat a small town in central New York a that day we had gone shopping uh
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we had come home we just hung around the house we lived in the country so there wasn't a lot of stuff to
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do Sarah had made plans to ride her bike to Vacation Bible School at the church where her father was a pastor it was
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just about a mile down the road the last time I saw her she was singing Dolly Parton do you remember
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what song she was singing working 95 yeah she and I were at the front door and so I was listening to her as she's
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working 925 and then she uh got on her bike and was like see you later when Sarah did return home later
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that afternoon Dusty and Sarah's parents began to worry so I remember getting a phone call from my parents at my
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friend's house hey did you see Sarah and me being like No And so at that point we
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rode our bikes and came home didn't see her soon after that's when a neighbor came across Sarah's bike hidden in the
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bushes on the side of the road less than a half mile from the family's home police were called around 6:00 p.m. New
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York State Police Trooper Timothy Blaze who is now retired arrived at the scene so Tim where was her bicycle found it
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was off the grassy area it was in where the shrubs are and there was also some school paperwork that was around some
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papers were blowing around and at the time did anyone remember seeing a truck or or a child being grabbed or anything
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I mean she just vanished well as you can see I mean there's nobody here really to
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see anything you know by early evening the massive search for Sarah [Applause] began we'd be out in the woods searching
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for her at midnight 1:00 in the morning hoping that we find her in maybe a hole or a she fell down in something 48 Hours
00:08:21
was invited by Sarah and Dusty's parents Bob and Francis Wood to witness those early days of the invest
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vation in hopes that the media attention would help find Sarah hold for an officer and I'll be right with you it
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would become one of the largest searches for a missing child during that time the first day was
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the worst first night we're uh just checking to see if anybody have any information on the
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Sarah Woods case first night of course you know I was up on the road all night out in the woods all night second day I
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was was on the road all night watching pioner Federation command post Bob Wood's tiny church was turned into a
00:09:06
state police command post command post the more people we can reach early on while the thing is still
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fresh in their minds the better chance we stand of maybe turning something up that that'll help
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us the big thing as far as the uniform Troopers are concerned is the door too anything out of the ordinary in the past
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week or so can that be done with the chopper the thing that keeps everybody going is
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the uncertainty not knowing whether she's dead whether she's alive whether she's a mile away or whether she's 120
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Mi away so now all I'm doing is praying and encouraging people cuz they're doing
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all the work we've expanded the search operation we're probably into the area of 600 square
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miles I'm getting in fresh Crews I got more crews coming in from different parts of the state and we're going to be
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crawling on our hands and knees it's really thick once we get down in there let's find that guy buddy let's go when
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you're dealing with a child it hits you personally it hits me personally you tend to devote 110% let's
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go track I hope we find this girl thank you Lord for this day and we thank you out for the good food that we have we do
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ask that you would uh be with Sarah nourish her protect her please bring her home to us tonight how's it going guys
00:10:26
Sarah's father doing a good job out there that's like like you know I'm on a precipice and there's a there's a deep
00:10:32
dark Cliff there hi how you doing hun I'm glad you're here I really am and if I step over and and in self-pity and
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start to go down there I may not be able to get back up how you I'm doing this fine Francis is strengthening daily
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she's in the Bible a lot Dusty he's strong he's real strong tell me about yourself oh myself yeah
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uh I don't know what we need is a break a good solid lead that we can take and finish this
00:11:09
case up with and Bob belied police were going to get that break we're doing the state of
00:11:15
Texas if enough people could see his daughter's face somebody stops one of these stores and gases up 10 minutes
00:11:22
later to can see my daughter they can make the phone call we need to get you see this little person here this is my
00:11:28
baby whatever I have to do I'm going to do to find this little girl here Sarah's
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Mother Francis made a public plea whoever behind this I don't hate you I don't hate you I just want my daughter
00:11:41
back that's we just want her here right here with us investigators were determined to find out what happened to
00:11:48
Sarah and they did not shy away from looking anywhere or at anyone our entire family was focused on getting Sarah back
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so so you want to investigate me I'm okay with that Sarah's got to come home we'll do whatever it takes
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[Music] period when this happened people realized it's could to happen to anybody
00:12:24
it could be their children retired New York State Police Det detectives reys TR and John Fallon
00:12:32
were state troopers when Sarah wood disappeared in 1993 my daughter was only 5 miles from
00:12:39
there when this happened at her grandparents house 3 years old it's home TR and Fallon were part of the army
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of investigators from around the state thank you for assigned to search for Sarah we had no vehicle she didn't just
00:12:55
go into thin air they would join Frank Lawrence one of the lead detectives something or someone had to have taken
00:13:04
her there he is right there Sarah Channel 2 yet despite the weeks of media attention that Sarah's case received
00:13:12
Lawrence now retired from the New York State Police says law enforcement still had very little to go on somebody took
00:13:20
her we didn't know so when you don't know you have to eliminate everything every possibility and you start local
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and that included question questioning the people closest to Sarah her brother and her parents you had to look at the
00:13:35
woods the woods were looked at I wasn't that tough though it's very it's always difficult to do that you know especially
00:13:41
in this case because they're such good parents Bob Wood was there every day glad you're here though you're helping
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out a lot every day investigation isn't over uh this is one facet I had a hard time going to every day once the woods
00:13:58
were elim ated Lauren says they turned their attention to investigating known and suspected sex offenders each and
00:14:06
every one of them had to be spoken with and eliminated and we did we did and they
00:14:16
still had nothing we got this section done despite the long hours and heavy Manpower until a bitterly cold day in
00:14:27
January 199 4 5 months after Sarah disappeared officer Timothy Blaze was working in the command center when a
00:14:37
message came in Via teletype a device that police departments used at the time to share information one came over that
00:14:46
about an abduction or attempted abduction in Massachusetts and then I handed off to Frank another 12-year-old
00:14:53
girl named Becky Savar was almost abducted as she walked to school in Pittsfield Mass
00:14:59
Massachusetts 100 miles away Becky didn't respond to 48 hour's most recent request for an interview but back in
00:15:08
1994 she did speak with me and told me her remarkable story I was coming up here it was 7:10 in the morning on
00:15:18
January 7th at one of the busiest intersections in town I was listening to my music he was on the side of me he
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like where I am yeah he was saying stuff before I didn't know what he was saying
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so I took my earphones out to um hear what he was saying and then he said do you see the gun I have I was like yes I
00:15:37
I see the gun you have he's like just do everything I say everything would be perfectly okay I was like all right he
00:15:45
had it up against you he he had about maybe an inch away from me were you scared no you weren't scared I wasn't
00:15:52
scared we turned down here to where his truck was parked now he wants you to go in the truck that's over there all right
00:16:00
you're not intending going to that truck no it if I got away I didn't care if you
00:16:05
shot me I I just knew I was not going to get into that truck why why did you know that was that
00:16:11
something someone had told you or I I just felt it inside me I knew I was not going to get into that truck that's when
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Becky came up with an idea that possibly saved her life she faked an asthma attack I started a fake that I was like
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losing breath when I was trying to take my backpack off uh when he tried to grab for me and he
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got in my backpack and said and I just ran Becky ran into a man clearing snow off a sidewalk who called the police at
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about the same time a witness called in with three digits from the truck's license plate investigators began
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searching for the vehicle I remember it well because it was a blizzard despite the snowstorm a Pittsfield officer
00:16:56
spotted a truck with those three digits in its license plate sitting in a driveway in a residential area the
00:17:05
officer quickly called for backup and they knocked on the door and said who was driving this truck earlier the
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homeowner told the officers a friend named Lis lent had borrowed the truck and he just happened to be sitting in
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the kitchen when police entered the house to question lent he denied knowing about Becky but willingly agreed to come
00:17:29
down to the police station had LS lent that name Lewis lent ever come up before no not in our investigation had he ever
00:17:39
been connected to a disappearance of a child no but he had a criminal history yeah some minor things like bad checks
00:17:47
and forged checks things like that but nothing that approaches this and when investigators searched lent's vehicle
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they knew they had the right man they found Rebecca's backpack they found found the gun they found duct tape and
00:18:02
clothesline rope basically his his kidnapping abduction kit although the attempted abduction was 100 miles away
00:18:10
in Pittsfield Massachusetts everyone wondered if lent could have also taken Sarah got a call
00:18:18
from the lieutenant he says well go home and pack a bag and you're going to Pittsfield
00:18:23
[Music] almost 12 hours after the attempted abduction of 12-year-old Becky Savar New York state police detective
00:18:44
Frank Lawrence struggled through a snowstorm and finally arrived at Pittsfield Massachusetts eager to speak
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to leis lent but he would have to wait his turn there's similarities but it's a Pittsfield case okay they would talk to
00:18:59
him then we'd get him in between and he was willing to talk to you yeah he talked to us and during their
00:19:05
conversations Lauren says he and two other New York investigators made sure LS lent understood why they were there I
00:19:14
actually showed him this poster and I said to him Lou this is who I'm here to talk to you about so he knew that
00:19:22
eventually we're going to be talking about this okay how did react did he he he was he was he was flat flat yeah he
00:19:29
was flat to the whole thing did that make you think he had no idea who she was I I didn't really care I was going
00:19:36
to find out that's what we were there for but getting LS lent to admit anything was not going to be easy
00:19:43
although Becky saavar and a witness picked him out of a lineup it took lent until the next morning to admit he had
00:19:52
tried to take her Lewis lent was arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault with deadly weapon but New York
00:20:01
investigators were not done with lent they started to ask him questions about other missing kids we talked to him we
00:20:08
spent a lot of time with him and that's when laurren says he and New York investigators came up with a strategy we
00:20:16
found out that he was religious so he says they brought a Bible into the interview room that Bible sat on the
00:20:24
table in front of him anytime he would wander okay we would use the Bible and we go Lou you got to tell the truth and
00:20:33
this comes from the heart you got to tell us the truth we would go back to the Bible and Lauren says the strategy
00:20:41
appeared to be working because as the hours went by lent started to reveal things about himself and some very
00:20:50
disturbing plans for the future that involve kidnapping young victims he told us about his master plan man once he
00:20:59
found the acceptable vulnerable individuals he was going to bring him back to his house and put him in like C
00:21:06
like I describe as a coffin but keep them alive so he could use them and have them
00:21:12
whenever he he wanted them investigators would later find the beginning of his horrifying construction project when
00:21:20
they searched lent's bedroom and found this wooden partition wall and things only got worse he wanted to talk about
00:21:29
Jimmy Bernardo Jimmy Bernardo was a 12-year-old boy who had gone missing 3 years earlier in Pittsfield
00:21:38
Massachusetts a month later Hunters would find his body the case had stumped local investigators for years but now
00:21:47
lent was about to tell everyone what had happened to Jimmy he was riding his bike through a
00:21:55
strip mall in uh Pittsfield Mass assetts leis Lun was a janitor at the cinema center there in Pittsfield when Jimmy
00:22:04
stopped in front of the cinema to wake for a friend that's when Len said he offered him money to help him clean the
00:22:11
movie theater Jimmy agreed and then once lent got him inside he overpowered him and kidnapped him lent told
00:22:19
investigators he drove Jimmy 200 miles to a rural and isolated area near his hometown of Reynoldsville New York then
00:22:28
he said he strangled Jimmy to death and left him there he had details that only the Killer and the police knew as
00:22:36
horrific as that Revelation was investigators kept pressing him about Sarah wood the more we talked about
00:22:44
Sarah we're probing he's responding and then 5 months after she went missing LS lent finally
00:22:54
confessed lent admitted that he had kidnapped raped and then murdered Sarah M Wood she was
00:23:03
vulnerable he was hunting and he found the victim and just like Jimmy Bernardo detective Lawrence says lent account
00:23:12
match details only known to investigators lent knew specifics about what Sarah had been wearing and details
00:23:20
about her bike that had not been made public he knew that the chain on the bike was
00:23:26
broken and he also said that the bike was a little bit big for her I didn't know that I found out later
00:23:33
that it was then laurren says lent drew them a map showing where he said he buried Sarah's body this is just a copy
00:23:42
obviously right but this is actually what Louis Lent did he drew that I handed him a piece of paper and this is
00:23:50
what he drew and where did he say he put her off Route 28 up by Blue Mountain Lake Blue Mountain Lake is located in in
00:23:58
a remote Woody area near racket Lake in New York's ader de mountains and within hours police from
00:24:07
all over New York state were dispatched and searched the area Bob Wood was there along with dusy
00:24:14
who was a senior in high school it was very cold it was ridiculous and it was tons of snow remember a lot of helping a
00:24:24
lot of people how you guys doing for tarps up here was that a time when you thought you might be able to bring Sarah
00:24:30
home yeah for over 50 days they searched for Sarah in the ader rondex it was 30 below zero we could only stay outside
00:24:40
for 20 minutes at a time we were in waste High snow we had shovels we're digging we're looking for any evidence
00:24:47
at all having anything to do with Sarah and we were hoping we somebody would come up with something that had
00:24:53
something to do with her it just didn't happen as investigators continued to look for Sarah's body lent would face
00:25:01
murder charges in both Massachusetts and New York it was a rare occasion where everyone was laser focused on one event
00:25:12
which was find Sarah bring him to [Music] Justice before Lewis Len could be tried
00:25:29
for Sarah Woods murder in New York he first had to face charges in Massachusetts in 1995 Lewis went went on
00:25:38
trial and was ultimately convicted for Becky sav's attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to 17 to 20 years almost 1 and
00:25:50
a half years later after taking a plea he was given a life sentence for murdering Jimmy
00:25:57
Bernardo television radio and newspaper outlets and then on June 6th 1996 Lewis lent arrived at hermer New
00:26:06
York to a media frenzy and the district attorney wanted Justice for Sarah Anne wood and her family Jeffrey Carpenter is
00:26:15
Herkimer County's district attorney he wasn't in office when Sarah WB was murdered but he is studied Lewis lent's
00:26:23
Case Files he says the DA's office thought Lewis lent was going to ple guilty to killing Sarah but without
00:26:31
warning lent changed his mind but it's my understanding that when he entered the courtroom and he saw certain members
00:26:38
of the public especially I think her family he decided on that day he did not want to enter a plea Days Later lent
00:26:45
would change his mind again and finally entered a guilty plea what do you remember of him sitting there I couldn't
00:26:54
believe how small a man you know I couldn't believe it not imposing almost 4 years after Sarah wood was
00:27:01
abducted and murdered LS lent was sentenced to 25 years to life he was sent back to Massachusetts to serve the
00:27:10
rest of his life in prison he will never cause harm to anyone else but it was not
00:27:17
over for the Wood family and New York State Police investigators they still needed to find
00:27:24
Sarah he changes his story so often it's hard to hard to tell what's the truth and what's fiction in fact detective
00:27:32
Tren says lent's original story that he buried her in the racket Lake Area turned out to be a lie he cashed a check
00:27:41
on August 18th in Pittsfield at 6:18 p.m. so he did not physically have time to abduct Sarah at around 2:30 p.m. and
00:27:52
then drive to the aderan Dex dig a grave bury her and then drive back to Pittsfield cash a check so investigators
00:28:01
continued to visit lent in prison hoping that over time he would reveal where he
00:28:07
buried Sarah and perhaps even disclose the murders of other victims detectives Fallon and TR say
00:28:17
they visited Lon prison about 20 times isn't it difficult a time so for the two of you not to just jump across the table
00:28:25
and grab them no one of the things you have to do is you have to leave hate outside of the room when you go in they
00:28:32
didn't push him but during their conversations lent revealed that he often suffered from blackouts and
00:28:39
claimed he had an evil Alter Ego that he called Steven he has this dichotomy is the word he used he has a really good
00:28:48
side that studies the Bible and actually was a traveling Minister then he has this evil side and he has these uh
00:28:55
uncontrollable compulsions this is the way put it to do terrible things that he could not stop somehow lent managed to
00:29:03
hide that evil side from nearly everyone he knew leis Len spent the last year back in
00:29:10
1994 48 Hours correspondent Richard slesinger interviewed some of lent's friends the sidewall here it was caving
00:29:19
right in right and uh he helped you with that too huh oh yes to Phil shy who is legally blind lent was a Good Samaritan
00:29:29
months just came over and said well I'd be glad to give you a hand I hear you're
00:29:33
doing uh work on your foundation he said i' be glad to help you out we built a border all the way around we put in
00:29:41
probably hundreds of hours working together in that Sumer it was definitely hard work he and he did that all out of
00:29:48
the goodness of his heart yes he did to Frank cette the dean of students at a bible school that lent attended he was a
00:29:56
gentleman he was in intelligent he was unassuming he was quiet uh one thing about Louis that everyone remembered was
00:30:04
he always had his hand out to to shake your hand when you were meeting one and if you didn't watch out he' give you a
00:30:09
big bear hug he had a lot of children with him young kids the kids would play video
00:30:14
games and then they would come and go to the movies and he would bring them home
00:30:17
to Richard Balman who employed him lent seemed like a mentor to children they called him the Big Brother they did oh
00:30:25
yeah the kids yes Balman owned the movie theater where lent worked as a janitor for six years and he thought he knew
00:30:34
lent very well I I hired him I worked side by side with him what's what's tell me what's going
00:30:53
on I just feel as though I may have missed something that he might have said or done that would have ke me that would
00:31:02
have let you know just give me a clue that there's something wrong this guy people have trouble understanding that
00:31:10
you can have this very religious God-fearing nice polite man in contrast that to his other side where he is
00:31:20
hunting and praying on and killing children those can exist in one person Julia cie is a retired FBI agent and
00:31:31
profiler who worked on cases like the Golden State killer she now hosts a true crime podcast called the consult real
00:31:41
FBI profilers this podcast is about criminal profiling cie has never met Louis lent but at our request she
00:31:50
reviewed his background and studied his confessions she says that what appeared to be lent's desire to help people could
00:31:59
actually have served a selfish purpose by helping all these people this is a way to maybe hide who he really is to
00:32:09
gain people's trust when you do that you can manipulate them you can control them
00:32:15
it's strategically motivated as opposed to being motivated by true emotion just like other serial killer she has studied
00:32:23
cie says lent is completely self-centered his needs come before anybody else's obviously he had no
00:32:31
regard for his victims he has no regard for victim's families something Reese TR
00:32:37
says he is seen firsthand he knows what emotions are that other people have but he doesn't feel them himself one of the
00:32:45
things that he said in the past that is that the murders ruined his life he's remorseful that he got caught that it
00:32:54
ruined his life but he doesn't think in terms of it ruined anybody else his life
00:32:58
he just doesn't think that way Le lent so quickly admits to kidnapping and and killing Sarah wood why not tell it all
00:33:09
why not give all the details it's just a secret he wants to hold on to it's his it's the only thing he has that's his
00:33:17
own that he can control and a bit of sadism knowing that family members want answers continuing to hurt them is
00:33:26
something I think that he needs off of it's It's there's some enjoyment in there most Killers Don't tell us
00:33:33
everything they rarely give the full story instead lent reveals what he wants when he wants on his own timetable and
00:33:44
in 2013 he revealed something new I've described it as speaking directly to the devil he really is the
00:33:54
[Music] devil how do you warn your loved ones about child Predators for an in-depth
00:34:00
look at the case go to 48 [Music] hours.com as detectives Fallon and Tra continued to question Lewis Len about
00:34:17
Sarah wood and other possible victims in 2013 he made yet another confession he ended up admitting to uh killing Jamie
00:34:29
Lusher nine months before Sarah was abducted Jamie Lusher a 16-year-old team with disabilities disappeared in
00:34:37
Westfield Massachusetts just 40 mil from the Pittsfield area again he was riding his bike um
00:34:47
through a parking lot of a Friendly's Restaurant his bicycle was later found in a wooded area close by Len told
00:34:56
investigators that after a kid kidnapped and murdered Jamie he discarded the teenagers remains in greenwater pond in
00:35:04
Becket Massachusetts we had divers go actually with the Massachusetts State Police
00:35:12
divers and they all Dove the pond and uh nothing was found as he has done many times before lent would later recant his
00:35:20
confession authorities decided not to charge Lewis lamp with Jaime's murder hoping that one day he will lead them to
00:35:29
his body at this point we're not interested in further prosecution he's not going anywhere at a press conference
00:35:35
shortly after the confession Jaime's sister talked about the grief she endured since her brother went missing
00:35:43
anybody that knows me knows I talk about this I think about this every day it's this searing heartache in part
00:35:52
that keeps authorities motivated to find the missing so soon after Lent confed F
00:35:57
to killing Jamie da Jeffrey Carpenter got permission to take glent who was serving
00:36:05
his life sentence in Massachusetts out of prison and back to New York this time they drove him around
00:36:14
hoping he would reveal anything that would help them find Sarah so really what did we have to lose we had to do it
00:36:22
we drove to the Massachusetts border we drove to the Vermont border he took us to where she was a Ed he took us to
00:36:29
where he claimed he murdered her but after three long days and over 600 miles of driving Carpenter says New York
00:36:38
authorities ended the operation the consensus was he absolutely knew where she was he just was not going to tell us
00:36:46
before Carpenter sent lent back to Massachusetts he recorded this conversation with
00:36:54
him you know we spent some time here last couple of days hope you feel you were treated with
00:36:59
respect oh all the way yeah treated well yes well that was our end of the bargain
00:37:04
right no right Y what was your end of the bargain do the very best I can to find Sarah yeah yeah is that what we've
00:37:13
done that's what we've done I would say that uh that I tried I was absolutely sure that I knew the
00:37:26
route when it came down to it I could only get partial of what I what I actually where I actually went what was
00:37:34
going through your head when you're talking to him anger he does not forget details he
00:37:42
recalls details he recalls many things until he wants to pretend he doesn't remember a decade after that fruitless
00:37:52
surch in November of 2023 investigators were back out looking again this time at the Green Mountain
00:38:01
National Forest in Vermont after detective train identified an area with landmarks that lent had talked about
00:38:09
during their many conversations just too many things matched up a lot of a lot of a lot of
00:38:16
boxes were checked what's more search and rescue dogs taken to the area had alerted to a possible body there so we
00:38:25
were hopeful optimistic that we would find something there and we we never found anything but authorities kept
00:38:32
looking earlier this year detectives went back to the seller that lent worked him with Phil sh's to see if they missed
00:38:40
something in 1994 the search turned up no new evidence do you feel in a way that you
00:38:49
might be running out of time Lis lent is in his 70s it's a concern but that's one
00:38:55
of the things we can't control regardless of the challenges authorities say they will never stop looking for
00:39:02
Sarah wood and Jamie Lusher Dusty wood says he chooses not to think about LS lent and every day I'm
00:39:13
less angry because I devote my energy to positive things every year Dusty and some family members participate in the
00:39:24
Ride For Missing Children ready a 78 mile bike ride that was created in Sarah's Honor by Bob Wood the riters
00:39:37
wore jerseys that were turquoise and pink the colors that Sarah wore when she was
00:39:43
[Applause] abducted Riders stop at schools along the [Music] [Applause] way to talk about abduction prevention
00:39:56
the most important thing for us as a family is to protect kids and make sure that if there's anything that can be
00:40:03
done to protect them from Monsters like Lewis lent that it be done writers pay silent tribute to those
00:40:13
children whose families hold out hope that they will be found [Music] alive and to children who went missing
00:40:23
and are never coming home like Sarah M wood Dusty says he and his family are grateful to their Community who have
00:40:34
supported them since the beginning there will be never a way to repay the kindness of
00:40:43
strangers that opened up the possibility of giving the best chance to my sister he's not
00:40:53
sure if they will ever find his sister's body but he is at peace I'm waiting for the day I see
00:41:02
Sarah in heaven and I know that day is coming and that makes me feel good [Music]
00:41:16
[Music] [Music] CBS next Saturday a former state trooper's wife found dead in her bathtub
00:41:44
it was a gunshot but was it a cover up for murder Dan thought he was smart enough to trick everybody packed duffel
00:41:50
bags wet towels it looks odd a new 48 Hours next Saturday at 109 Central on CBS in streaming on Paramount
00:41:58
[Music] plus hello listeners and welcome back to season two of postmortem I'm your host
00:42:14
an marie green we are diving right back into another really chilling case about The Disappearance and the search for
00:42:21
Sarah and wood joining me today is 48 Hours correspondent Aon Mori Ari who who has been covering this case since Sarah
00:42:30
disappeared since she was reported missing back in 1993 we're going to get more on that in
00:42:36
a bit but we're also joined by longtime 48 Hours producer Chris Young riten welcome it's great to be here and we're
00:42:42
starting another new season of 48 hours and this I think is a perfect story to do it with absolutely it's so great to
00:42:49
be here thanks so listeners if you are joining us for the very first time or you need a quick reminder if you haven't
00:42:56
actually listened to this for 48 Hours episode yet head on over to your podcast feed and then listen to the full audio
00:43:02
version of it first it's just below this episode it's on your feed so go listen and then come back for our conversation
00:43:10
where we're going to break it all down for you the title of this episode is the unending search for Sarah anwood and it
00:43:17
really has been unending for her family for investigators they are still searching for her body it's been over 30
00:43:24
years both of you have been really covering True Crime for death decades now in your experience is it unusual for
00:43:31
investigators to continue to pursue a case even after the suspect is already in prison I don't think it's that
00:43:42
unusual when you're talking about a case like this with a young child the one thing that struck me when we went back
00:43:48
now 30 years later is investigators they all remembered the age of their children
00:43:54
at the same time and so this case stuck with them and they put themselves in the
00:44:00
place of the victims and they think what would I want done for me and of course also we call it unending uh Sarah ood's
00:44:08
parents and and her brother they want to end this search yeah the da said to us we all kind of adopted Sarah um and
00:44:17
they're going to continue looking until they find her in the hour you see how investigators continue to interview lent
00:44:24
in prison you know they bring out you know spend days with him what's the long game here he's
00:44:33
sitting in prison he is going to be punished for the rest of his life you know years after he went to prison he
00:44:40
suddenly brings up new information about another victim Jamie Lusher so there is
00:44:45
this hope of trying to solve those cases there are other kids missing there's a side of me like feeling that LS Len is
00:44:53
kind of taking advantage of them and it drives me crazy uh because he has the control and this
00:45:00
is about control but investigators believe that the longer they stick with it maybe they can find Sarah Anne and
00:45:08
maybe they can find other children yeah I think it's everyone's hope um that people close to Lewis Lyn will encourage
00:45:16
him to speak out you know so he can give some closure um to both Sarah's family and potentially others I want to talk
00:45:23
about retired FBI profiler agent cowe cuz it was great to have her there it's like a master class in profiling a
00:45:31
serial killer talking to a former FBI profiler that was a little discouraging to me because uh agent Julia cowy said
00:45:40
these guys that's all they have they're in prison all they have is this information it is their currency and so
00:45:47
they can either give it or they can keep it in the bank to quote one of our investigators and die with it so it's
00:45:56
it's iffy yeah and you do touch in the hour about just how like time is ticking away you
00:46:02
know at some point he won't be available anymore um and 48 Hours also interviewed
00:46:08
people who knew lent like you know his friend even a minister I was really struck by Richard uh Balman who was a
00:46:15
theater owner he had hired him and the way he broke down you just got the sense that he felt personally sort of offended
00:46:25
or he was questioning himself that he could not identify the evil that this man was capable of um how could these
00:46:34
people how were they fooled by lent I thought the importance of that interview that Richard Slinger did so many years
00:46:41
ago was that it really put a almost like a a period on what the FBI profilers said that this guy was so able to hide
00:46:53
this evil side of himself that here's a guy who the cinema who trusted Lewis lent so much that he allowed him to have
00:47:02
contact with kids and the fact that this owner was so devastated that he had been
00:47:09
fooled that really told you how good an actor Lewis lent was absolutely yeah um one of the detectives um talked about
00:47:19
Lewis lent told him that you know that he kind of has two personalities you know one side um he was this nice person
00:47:27
always helping others and then he had this other side of him where he just did these awful things and you know when we
00:47:35
interviewed our profiler Julia said this is possible that these two these two different personalities can be in a in a
00:47:42
person and it's hard to really fathom that you and she reminded us though that you know that he wasn't the good person
00:47:49
because when he cried and felt sad he was sad he got caught he never expressed concern about these children I mean all
00:47:57
you have to do is watch this hour I'm 48 hours and see that beautiful face of Sarah M Wood and you realize yourself
00:48:05
how devastating and this guy seemed to feel nothing but he had to have been such a great actor and I think that's a
00:48:13
reason for doing this show is to remind people you know bad people don't come with horns they look like anyone else MH
00:48:22
so the other thing that you covered when you initi did this story for 48 hours is
00:48:29
you spoke to some of lent's family members did they give you any insight into how he could have become like this
00:48:38
well I should point out initially they were shocked I mean nobody again he hid what he called his evil side his alter
00:48:47
ego from his family but they all all of us wondered why would Lewis lent turn out this way and and many experts
00:48:57
including our FBI former profiler said that often they are abused and in fact they did believe that LS lent might have
00:49:07
been abused as a child so we did learn that from talking to the family as I was watching this I couldn't
00:49:15
help but to think about my own kid right she's a tween I'm struggling like many parents
00:49:22
with you know letting the leash a little looser and then pulling it back I know you guys are journalists but you're also
00:49:28
moms um I wonder if you know being a mom being a parent if that kind of like factored into how you felt about this
00:49:37
story how you felt about why you wanted to tell it well it's funny you know I I was on it back in 1993 and um I think we
00:49:47
need to have empathy when we're doing interviews but then when you have empathy for the victims you're feeling
00:49:52
it yourself particularly if you're a mom and my son was a little younger than Sarah mwood and I didn't realize how
00:49:59
much I was affected till I went back home to New York uh New York City and we were riding a bike and I thought Nick
00:50:06
was behind me but he was ahead of me and when he wasn't behind me I mean look I went crazy in seconds I already said my
00:50:15
son's missing me and I had organized people and he was just right ahead of us and some man rides back with a bike and
00:50:22
he goes is this your son my son was mortified but the other mothers around me said to him look she was reacting
00:50:31
properly you have to react right away so I think that tells you how much you do internalize this could happen to anybody
00:50:40
it could happen to us because it did happen to wonderful people I think also as a journalist you
00:50:46
know covering these kind of stories I I tend to compartmentalize because also you know you don't want to be that
00:50:52
parent that's overly protective at the same time but I'll tell you I have two two daughters uh an 11-year-old and a
00:50:58
9-year-old and after doing the story I literally have sat down with them and said you know what what do you do if
00:51:05
someone pulls up in a car and and and I've gone through the steps with them and so it was kind of education for them
00:51:13
and I'm happy that I've done that and I hope maybe parents watching this will also take the time to do that with their
00:51:19
children well I got to tell you after watching it I thought I have to have this conversation I just got to make
00:51:25
sure I know what she knows and what she doesn't know and I also thought maybe should we should take a self-defense
00:51:29
class together or something just to be prepared when we get back we're going to talk to Aon and Chris about Sarah an's
00:51:37
family and how they coped with this incredible [Music] loss welcome back everyone so 48 Hours
00:51:51
started covering this case just days after Sarah went missing and had incredible ACC
00:51:57
in those early days we see so much of that rich archival footage in the hour and Aaron what was your impression of
00:52:05
Sarah's family especially in those early days I think you saw really what families go through in a way that you
00:52:11
rarely do so at first it was shock then you see Sarah an's mother unable almost to talk you could see her suffering and
00:52:20
dad you know he felt he had to be the strong one he was there every day but then when he he was pushed just a little
00:52:28
bit and I think it was was it our cameraman who kind of pushed him somebody who was with him and said but
00:52:34
how are you doing then you see him dissolve and that is to me the importance it's not to interfere or
00:52:43
interrupt or or violate someone's privacy it is to let you know how difficult it is to go through something
00:52:52
like this the guilt the parents feel the loss the parents feel the um gratitude they feel for everybody who is helping
00:53:01
them search and that access allowed us really to share what this family was going through yeah that Dad I just
00:53:10
thought this is sort of the epitome of I have to be the rock for everyone and I have to stay busy so I don't focus on
00:53:21
this and then when he was asked how you I probably no one had asked him that no you saw him struggling not to break down
00:53:30
but how could you not that's how he was getting through it not thinking about it
00:53:35
and now suddenly he had to think about it yeah and Chris dustywood um has never actually given an interview about his
00:53:43
sister until this for 48 hours in depth interview I mean he spent two hours with
00:53:48
Aaron um and he really talked a lot about long-term grief he says there's two paths he decided to go one path
00:53:58
which he became more extroverted his family they're more introverted um and so he represented his family in this and
00:54:06
he shared with us some things that we actually couldn't put in the broadcast he pulled out all these letters from
00:54:13
children that had sent letters to his family and to him thanking them for speaking out um and and saying I'm
00:54:21
really sorry about what happened to to your sister you know he kept saying how grateful he was for the support that he
00:54:27
and his family have received from the community but the letters um were very emotional for him and that was
00:54:33
meaningful to him to have very meaningful and and I think Dusty really compartmentalized this as well I don't
00:54:40
think he really has looked at these letters in a long time so for him to pull them out and to share them with us
00:54:46
that was really special and it kind of took them back to that time you always think you know when someone's going
00:54:51
through something like that there are no words that could make a difference but clearly those letters did and there was
00:54:58
another way that this case had kind of a surprising impact on Dusty Dusty and the
00:55:05
rest of his family had spent a lot of time with our longtime cameraman Daryl Barton and had shown uh I guess so much
00:55:14
sensitivity that Dusty decided he too would become a cameraman and even adopted the way Daryl shot things which
00:55:25
was Conant never stopping just shooting everything um and that's what Dusty does
00:55:32
today he's a cameraman listening to Dusty also makes you realize that it's not like something that happened to him
00:55:39
30 years ago it continues to to affect his life even today and I think that's again something that we forget that the
00:55:49
news cycle moves on you know we say oh this is sad this family went through well it doesn't end for the family it's
00:55:59
there every day there's a reminder every day and you could really see that in Dusty it changed his life then it
00:56:06
changed the trajectory his life took what he decided to do with his life and to this day it's still what drives his
00:56:14
life is to save other children from the same fate so is that another reason why he was willing to talk so openly with
00:56:21
you all yes he's very passionate both Dusty and his family and kind of educating
00:56:27
um you know others about you know how they how we can protect children and he does a ride every year called The Ride
00:56:33
For Missing Children and he allowed us to follow him um it was a 78 mile bike ride and they would stop at schools
00:56:42
along the way and kids would come out and they would talk about um abduction prevention and it's a very important
00:56:49
thing that he does every year and I'm really happy that we were able to include that in the broadcast and
00:56:56
if you needed an example of a kid who's educated who knows what to do in a situation like that you got one right in
00:57:04
the hour right because Aon you have this incredible interview with uh Becky seice
00:57:09
um this is from way back then she was approached by lent and really smartly use these tactics to avoid being
00:57:16
abducted and this was in the middle of a busy intersection area busy town there would have been a ton of witnesses which
00:57:22
just told you how sort of bold he was we're going to play some of that sound I was listening to my music he was on the
00:57:28
side of me he like where I am yeah he was saying stuff before I didn't know what he was saying so I took my
00:57:34
earphones out to um hear what he was saying and then he said do you see the gun I have I was like yes I I see the
00:57:42
gun you have he's like just do everything I say everything would be perfectly okay I was like all right he
00:57:49
had up against you it he had about mebe an inch away from me were you scared no you weren't scared I wasn't scared
00:57:56
we turned down here to where his truck was parked now he wants you to go in the truck that's over there right you're not
00:58:04
intending to go into that truck no if I got away I didn't care if you shot me I I just knew I was not going to
00:58:11
get into that truck why why did you know that was that something someone had told you or I I
00:58:17
just felt it inside me I knew I was not going to get into that truck I got to tell you why I'm smiling is I still
00:58:24
smile when I think about Becky saies Becky Savar was the savest little 12-year-old I mean what a hoot she keeps
00:58:33
her head through it all and says that uh it came to her to fake an asthma attack
00:58:41
and then you know planned that she was just going to slip out of her backpack and get away and which is exactly what
00:58:49
she did did she learn like that whole stranger danger thing is that what kind of helped to protect her well she said
00:58:55
she didn't she said it just came to her mind now later on I had spoken to her mother she said that she had talked to
00:59:01
her daughter and we also know that uh Sarah an Wood's dad went around and was in that Pittsfield area so she may have
00:59:11
gotten some ideas but the bottom line was Becky Savar just was so smart and used this
00:59:20
amazing uh Ruth to escape and let's not forget that she's a her in this story because she probably saved other kids'
00:59:30
lives because of what she did so yes I'm smiling cuz she's just to me she's one of those people you never forget oh
00:59:36
absolutely and that delivery I mean she just seemed so calm about it and I wonder if outside of the cameras did she
00:59:45
express any other emotions no she was she was that cool character I actually wonder I think about that like if she
00:59:54
had not gone away what would would have happened I mean how I don't even want to
00:59:58
think about you're right like Not only was it fantastic that she got away but then you know she saw him she had an
01:00:04
interaction with him she could give police details about him um that you know other others couldn't well she
01:00:11
picked him out of a lineup too which was very important yeah um definitely a a turning point um why do you think 48
01:00:19
Hours you come back to this case what is it about this case because you know it is the ending search we don't have that
01:00:28
wrap it up with a bow ending you know maybe in a way we're driven by the same reason these investigators are um it's
01:00:37
time to end this search and blent he's getting older he's in his 70s um he professes to be religious
01:00:46
maybe he should you know cleanse that soul of his before he goes and also let's not forget Jamie Lusher who's
01:00:54
another child who just appeared those parents deserve to know where their children are they deserve
01:01:01
peace and I think that's a big reason why we're doing this do investigators believe he knows where Sarah Anne is or
01:01:09
where Jamie is absolutely actually the district attorney in our broadcast says they absolutely believe he knows where
01:01:17
he buried Sarah and where he put Jamie Lusher and he refuses to tell them which is very
01:01:24
frustrating for them but they're going to keep going well it's a remarkable story told
01:01:32
in the usual 48 Hours remarkable way and it's another example of something that 48 hours does so well that you follow
01:01:40
stories to the very end so Ain what other projects are you working on now uh one that is near and dear to my heart a
01:01:48
new podcast and you can listen to murder in the Orange Grove the troubled case against Crosley green early and AD free
01:01:57
on the 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcast Aaron Chris thank you so much for joining me for the premiere
01:02:05
season 2 of postmortem it's always great to be able to be here with you and talking about this show thank you so
01:02:14
much so if you like this series postmortem please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and then follow
01:02:22
48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen at free on Amazon music wry Plus in the wry app or with a
01:02:31
48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcast thanks again for [Music] listening Paramount podcasts