Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair, blue eyes. Wood has scars on both of her legs. One toe on each of her feet is disabled. Both of Wood's cheeks are dimpled. She has facial freckles. Wood wears prescription eyeglasses with tortoise shell frames. Her hair was shoulder-length at the time of her disappearance. Some agencies spell her middle name "Ann."
Clothing Description: A pink t-shirt with the phrase "Guess Who" embroidered on the front, turquoise shorts, a headband and brown sandals.
Details of Disappearance
Wood was last seen riding her pink and white ten-speed mountain bicycle to her family's residence on Hacadam Road in Frankfort, New York on August 18, 1993. She was returning from Norwich Corners Church on Roberts Road and Gaffenburg Road in Frankfort, where she attended summer Bible school. The church was less than a mile from her house. Wood picked up some posterboard, a church song book, and some 8-by-10-inch plastic transparencies at the church before heading home. She apparently made it safely down Roberts Road and was last seen pedaling up a steep hill on Hacadam Road, four-tenths of a mile from her residence.
Wood's bicycle and the supplies she'd picked up were discovered in an area of brush several hundred feet off of Hacadam Road later in the evening. The bicycle was leaning against a tree and the supplies were scattered nearby. Wood has never been seen again.
Lewis S. Lent Jr., 45, was charged with Wood's abduction and murder in 1996, three years after she was last seen. A photo of Lent is posted below this case summary. Lent plead guilty to the abduction and murder of another child, twelve-year-old James Bernardo, in Massachusetts in 1990. Lent initially confessed to Wood's abduction and claimed he buried her body in the Adirondack Mountains. He drew a map of the burial location for authorities. It was supposedly in or near the town of Inlet. Extensive searches there did not produce any evidence as to Wood's whereabouts and Lent admitted that she was not really there. He refused to divulge the whereabouts of her remains, saying he had another body buried nearby and did not want that one to be found.
Lent later recanted his statements, but was convicted of the crime nonetheless. Wood has never been located. Lent is also considered a suspect in the 1992 Massachusetts disappearance of James Lusher Jr.. Lent has never been charged in connection with Lusher's case, but witnesses placed him in the area of Lusher's disappearance. He has also been investigated in the disappearances of Monique Santiago, Kimberly Moreau, Karen Wilson and Tammie McCormick.
Wood's family founded The Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center, later renamed The Mohawk Valley Branch Of The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children. Foul play is strongly suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved. Texas authorities are assisting with the investigation into her disappearance.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
New York State Police
315-866-7111
OR
Texas Department Of Public Safety
800-346-3243
Last updated February 12, 2005.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wood_sara.html