"48 HOURS" GOES INSIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT'S 30-YEAR CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME WITH A CHILD SERIAL KILLER IN ITS 37TH SEASON PREMIERE, "THE UNENDING SEARCH FOR SARA ANNE WOOD"

The Episode Is Part of an All-New Saturday Night True-Crime Double Feature

Saturday, Sept. 21

Correspondent Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS take viewers inside law enforcement's 30-year game of cat and mouse with a convicted child serial killer to get him to reveal where he left the body of a girl he murdered, in "The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood," to be broadcast Saturday, Sept. 21 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+. The 37th season kickoff broadcast is part of an all-new 48 HOURS Saturday double feature starting at 9:00 PM, ET/PT.

Sara Anne Wood was 12 when she disappeared on her way home from church in Sauquoit, N.Y., on Aug. 18, 1993. Her convicted killer, handyman and former movie theater janitor Lewis Lent, is in prison, but, to this day, refuses to tell investigators where he put her body.

"It's 30 years later ... I can't imagine many things that are as terribly life-changing," Wood's brother, Dusty Wood, tells Moriarty in an exclusive interview.

"Finding the body is important because then my mother could know where she is," Wood adds.

When Wood disappeared, 48 HOURS was given unprecedented access to the massive search. It's a story only on 48 HOURS and one the team has covered since she vanished. In 1994, Moriarty interviewed 12-year-old Becky Savarese, who escaped being kidnapped by Lent and helped investigators crack the Wood case - and others.

"He told us about his 'master plan,'" says retired New York State Police detective Frank Lawrence. "Once he found the acceptable vulnerable individuals, he was gonna bring 'em back to his house and put 'em in, I describe it as a coffin, but keep them alive. So he could use them and have them whenever he wanted them."

After Lent confessed to killing Wood, he drew a map to where he said he buried her in a remote location in the Adirondack Mountains, leading police on an extensive search. She was never found. Was he toying with investigators? New York State Police detectives refuse to give up. They continue to visit Lent in prison hoping that he will tell them where he buried Wood's body and possibly disclose the murders of other victims. In November 2023, they searched in a rural area near Pownal, Vt., and in June 2024, they searched a property in Lanesborough, Mass., connected to Lent, with no luck.

For Dusty Wood, he chooses not to think about Lent but to focus his energy on spreading awareness about child abductions.

"The most important thing for us as a family is to protect kids ... and make sure that if there's anything that can be done to protect them from monsters like Lewis Lent, that it be done."

At 9:00 PM, correspondent Tracy Smith and 48 HOURS report on the murder of Blaze Bernstein, an Ivy League student allegedly murdered because he was gay and Jewish, and the trial of former high school classmate Sam Woodward, in "The Life and Death of Blaze Bernstein."

Judy Tygard is the executive producer of 48 HOURS, which has been Saturday's #1 non-sports primetime program for 18 consecutive seasons. Watch 48 HOURS on CBS News 24/7, CBSNews.com, Paramount+ and YouTube. The 48 HOURS free, advertiser-supported streaming (FAST) channel is available on Pluto TV, Paramount +, and Paramount partner channels. Download the CBS News app on your phone or connected TV. Follow 48 HOURS on X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Listen to the 48 HOURS collection of original podcasts at CBS Audio.