Serial killer Lewis Lent is in prison, but investigators are left with unanswered questions

Lewis Lent was convicted of murdering two children in Massachusetts and New York, including 12-year-old Sarah Anne WoodBut investigators still don't know where he buried her.

Here's a timeline of this decades-long saga.

October 22, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo disappears

12-year-old James “Jimmy” Bernardo is missing. He was last seen around 5 p.m. outside the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Jimmy did not return home and his parents called the police that same evening.

November 21, 1990: Jimmy Bernardo’s body is discovered

Hunters find Jimmy Bernardo's body beside a dirt road in rural Newfield, New York, about 200 miles from Pittsfield. Evidence at the scene showed he was murdered.

November 6, 1992: Jamie Lusher goes missing

Jamie Lusher, a 16-year-old boy with disabilities, was last seen in Westfield, Massachusetts, riding his bicycle to his grandmother's house. Jamie's bicycle was discovered six days later in a field next to a dead-end road in Westfield.

August 18, 1993: Sara Anne Wood disappears

Sara Anne Wood, 12, was last seen on the short walk home from vacation Bible school in the rural area of ​​Sauquoit, New York. Her family began searching for her after she failed to return home.

Later that day, Sara's bike was discovered by a neighbor who had hidden it in the bushes at the side of the road, about half a mile from the Wood family home. Police were called and a large-scale search began in the early evening.

January 7, 1994: A kidnapping attempt leads to a breakthrough in several cases

Five months after Sara's disappearance, a man tried to kidnap the 12-year-old Becky Savarese as she walked to school through downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Becky escaped the attack, and later that day, a 43-year-old suspect named Lewis Lent was questioned by police.

During his questioning, Lewis Lent tells police that he used to work as a part-time janitor at the Pittsfield Plaza Cinema Center, the last place Jimmy Bernardo was seen in 1990. Authorities suspected there was more than a lone gunman involved, and Lent was later arrested on charges related to Becky Savarese's case.

A telex was sent to law enforcement agencies throughout the region, including the New York State Police, who arrived in Pittsfield later that evening to question Lent about Sara Wood.

After hours of interrogation over the next two days, Lewis Lent confessed to the murders of Sara Wood and Jimmy Bernardo. Lent also told them chilling details about his “master plan.” He built a large wooden partition in his bedroom to lock his victims inside after kidnapping them.

January 10, 1994: Investigators begin searching for Sara Wood in the Adirondack Mountains

A large, nationwide search party sets out from an area near Raquette Lake in New York's Adirondack Mountains, using Lent's description and a hand-drawn map to search an area where he allegedly buried Sara Wood. After more than 50 days of arduous searching in deep snow, authorities called off the effort.

On the same day, Lewis Lent is tried in Massachusetts for kidnapping, armed robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon in the Becky Savarese case and pleads not guilty.

February 14, 1994: Lewis Lent is charged with the murder of Jimmy Bernardo

More than three years after Jimmy Bernardo's death, Lent is indicted by a grand jury for the boy's kidnapping and murder. He was arraigned the same day and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

January 7, 1995: Lent is found guilty of attempted kidnapping of Becky Savarese

A year after Becky Savarese's escape, Lent is found guilty of her attempted kidnapping after a four-day trial. The next day, he is sentenced to 17 to 20 years in prison.

May 25, 1995: Sara Wood's father cycles 600 miles to Washington, DC.

Sara Wood's father Bob Wood and her brother Dusty Wood arrive in Washington DC after cycling 600 miles from upstate New York to raise money and awareness for missing children and abduction prevention. This ride was converted into an annual shortened version that still continues.

June 3, 1996: Lent pleads guilty to killing Jimmy Bernardo

One day before his trial for the murder of Jimmy Bernardo began, Lent unexpectedly changed his mind and pleaded guilty. This would not be the last time Lent surprised a courtroom. The judge immediately sentenced Lent to life in prison without parole.

June 7, 1996: Lent arrives in Herkimer, NY to face charges for the murder of Sara Anne Wood

Days after pleading guilty to the murder of Jimmy Bernardo, Lent arrived in Herkimer County, New York, wearing a bulletproof vest and amid media hype, to face charges of kidnapping and murder in the case of Sara Wood. But it would be months before justice was served.

October 16, 1996: Lewis Lent pleads

Sources from the time say Lent intended to plead guilty at his trial, but changed his mind and pleaded not guilty. “From what I understand, when he walked into the courtroom, he saw certain people, primarily I believe her family, and that's why he decided that day that he didn't want to confess,” current Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter told “48 Hours.”

October 25, 1996: Lent changes his mind – again

Lent decided to plead guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood. However, authorities say Lent continued to prevent the Wood family from getting closure on the case by not revealing where Sara's body is.

April 11, 1997: Lewis Lent is convicted

At Lent's sentencing, the Wood family and the Herkimer County District Attorney at the time made statements. Despite calls for him to reveal where he buried Sara, Lent remained silent. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood. He was sent back to Massachusetts to spend the rest of his life in prison. But the work wasn't done for investigators, who continued to visit Lent in prison in the hope that he would reveal where he buried Sara and perhaps uncover the murders of other victims.

July 15, 2013: Massachusetts authorities announce that Lewis Lent has confessed to the murder of Jamie Lusher

At a press conference in Westfield, Massachusetts, authorities announced that Lent had confessed to the murder of Jamie Lusher. In the days following that press conference, investigators searched Greenwater Pond in Becket, Massachusetts, where Lent told them he had disposed of Jamie's body. However, the search was unsuccessful and Jamie's body remains missing.

As he had done many times before, Lent later retracted his confession. Authorities decided not to charge Lent with Jamie's murder, hoping that he would one day lead them to his body.

That same month, New York authorities were given permission to bring Lent back to New York to show where he claimed to have placed Sara Woods' body. But after three days and over 600 miles of travel, the operation ended without Sara being found, and Lent was sent back to Massachusetts.

November 2023: Investigators search rural area in Vermont

Based on the information Lent provided to investigators, another search was conducted in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, just across the Massachusetts border. The search, this time again for Sara Wood, also ended without a body being found.

2024: Dusty Wood continues to ride his bike for missing children

The cameras of “48 Hours” followed Sara Wood's brother Dusty Wood and other participants in the annual “Ride for Missing Children” bike ride. Dusty is not discouraged by a family tragedy and puts all his energy into honoring his sister and raising awareness to prevent child abductions.

June 18, 2024: Search of a former house in connection with Lent

Authorities are searching a property in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, that is linked to Lent. This property was previously searched in the 1990s and belonged to a friend of Lent's at the time. Lent had been doing some work in the basement of the house.