How a 12-year-old Massachusetts girl who escaped a serial killer likely saved the lives of others - CBS News

By Chris Young Ritzen

Updated on: September 22, 2024 / 2:09 AM EDT / CBS News

Jan. 7, 1994, started out like any other typical winter morning for Rebecca "Becky" Savarese of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. There was snow on the ground, and it was bitterly cold as the 12-year-old walked to school. Then, at around 7:10 a.m., at one of the busiest intersections in town, a man came up beside her. "He had a mustache, but he didn't shave. He seemed like a nerd to me," said Savarese. The stranger quickly pulled out a gun and held it up against her.

Becky said the gunman threatened her: "Just do everything I say, everything will be perfectly OK." Then he steered her toward his truck and told her to get in. But Becky refused. "I didn't care if he shot me. I just knew I was not going to get into that truck," she told "48 Hours."

Instead, that's when Becky said she came up with an idea that possibly saved her life. She faked an asthma attack. She explained, "I was like, 'Can I sit down? Can I just sit down a minute?' I was trying to take my backpack off … and he tried to grab me, and he got my backpack and then I just started to run."

The gunman jumped into his truck and sped off. Becky ran into a man clearing snow off a sidewalk who called police. At about the same time, a witness called in with three digits from the truck's license plate.

Police learned that a 43-year-old handyman and former movie theater janitor named Lewis Lent had been driving that truck. He at first denied knowing about Becky Savarese, but he later confessed to trying to abduct her.

When police searched Lent's truck they found disturbing evidence. New York State Police Detective Reece Treen said they found "Rebecca's backpack. They found a gun. They found what Lew called his 'snatch kit.' Duct tape and a clothesline rope. Basically, his kidnapping abducting kit he had with him."

After Lent was arrested for the attempted abduction of Becky Savarese, authorities wondered if Lent could have abducted other children — including a 12-year-old-girl who had disappeared five months earlier. Sara Anne Wood, from Sauquoit, New York — 100 miles from Pittsfield — was last seen on her bike, leaving church as she was headed home less than a mile down the street.

When authorities questioned Lent about Sara's disappearance, he eventually confessed, in horrific detail, that he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed Sara. He also admitted to kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo from Pittsfield.

Hunters had found Jimmy's body in a rural and isolated area 200 miles away from Pittsfield. But detectives had no idea where Sara was buried. When they asked Lent, authorities say he continuously lied as to where he buried her.

The search for Sara and the cat-and-mouse game between authorities and her killer to get him to reveal where her remains are located is the focus of "The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood." Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports in the season premiere of "48 Hours," now streaming on Paramount+.

Authorities credit Becky for breaking Sara's abduction case wide open. New York State Police Detective Frank Lawrence said, "She's the key, she's the linchpin. She's what made it all happen … She got away … That's what put us on to Lewis Lent."

Treen, who spent many long hours interviewing Lent in prison, said that Lent admitted he would often drive for many miles hunting for children to kidnap. "(Lent) had a large hunting area. He mentioned that if he had money and he had the gas, that's what he would do … he would go out looking for vulnerable children."

But Becky Savarese's bravery and quick thinking changed all of that. In 1995, Lent was convicted for her attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to 17 to 20 years in prison. In 1996, after taking a plea, he was given a life sentence for murdering Jimmy Bernardo. Then, later that year, Lent pleaded guilty to killing Sara Wood. In 1997, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for her murder. Lent will serve the rest of his life in prison. Sara's brother Dusty Wood said, "He (Lewis Lent) will never cause harm to anyone else."

Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter often wonders what would have happened if Becky had not been able to escape. "I think Becky Savarese not only saved herself, she saved countless children because this man (Lewis Lent) was developing his skills. He was getting better at it. She outsmarted him … and brought an end to his reign of terror," he told "48 Hours."

Back in 1994, Becky's mother, Chris, told "48 Hours" that she often lectured her daughter about the steps to take in case she was ever abducted: to "kick, punch, bite, spit and do anything to get away." Becky had also been warned about strangers from a policeman who came to her school the year before the incident.

Dusty Wood says Becky's actions are an example as to why educating youth about abduction prevention is so important. "If no one had said anything to Rebecca … she would have had a different outcome.".

Every year, Dusty Wood and some family members participate in the "Ride for Missing Children," a 78-mile bike ride that was created in Sara's honor by their father Bob Wood. Riders stop at schools along the route to talk to children about how to stay safe. Riders also pay silent tribute to those children who are missing and never coming home and those that they hope may be found alive.

Dusty Wood says he cannot do anything to bring his sister Sara back, but he can try and make positive change by educating the public about how to keep children safe. He told "48 Hours," "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."

To learn more about how to educate children about abduction prevention, please visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website missingkids.org.