30+ years later, police still searching for remains of Lewis Lent victims in Berkshire County
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. (WWLP) - Investigators were in Lanesborough Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to find the children who were victims of Lewis Lent, a murderer who is serving life in prison for killing two children in the 1990s.
22News received several reports from residents that police were investigating an area on Summer Street in Lanesborough on Tuesday. The Berkshire County District Attorney's office confirmed that officers were searching a property in connection to the unsolved crimes allegedly committed by Lewis Lent.
Tuesday's investigation found no additional evidence. Police have previously searched the same area in the past.
"Law enforcement bodies are in regular communication regarding the unsolved crimes to have allegedly been committed by Lewis Lent. Today’s search is a part of an ongoing effort to solve cases involving missing children that may have been among Lent’s victims. Law enforcement in both Massachusetts and New York are dedicated to bringing justice for the children who remain missing and will continue to investigate all leads until their cases have been solved," stated Berkshire District Attorney Spokesperson Julia Sabourin.
Lewis Lent was a handyman from North Adams who is serving life in prison for the 1990 abduction and murder of 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo of Pittsfield and the murder of 12-year-old Sara Ann Wood of Frankfurt, New York in 1993. Lent has also confessed to killing 16-year-old James Lusher of Westfield who disappeared after riding his bike to his grandmother's house in Blandford on November 6, 1992.
The remains of Wood and Lusher have never been found but police remain dedicated to finding them. There have been several investigations in Berkshire County over the last several years in search of these victims. Lent had previously told Massachusetts State Police that Lusher's remains would be found at Greenwater Pond in Becket. However, several searches of the area have been unsuccessful.
Lent is also alleged to have been involved in a number of other child kidnapping cases.