Tests to determine if found skull is that of Sara Anne Wood
Story Created:
Oct 28, 2009 at 1:29 PM EST
Story Updated:
Oct 28, 2009 at 4:53 PM EST
SARATOGA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKTV) - New York State Police are investigating the discovery of a child's skull in rural Saratoga County.
According to our affiliate, WNYT in Albany, DNA testing will be used to help police match the skull, which was found over the weekend, to missing person cases.
Twelve-year-old Sara Anne Wood went missing from Herkimer County in August of 1993. Lewis Lent is in prison for her murder after pleading guilty. Wood's body was never recovered. Lent had told authorities he'd taken her to Raquette Lake. An exhaustive search there turned up nothing. Another theory investigators looked into was that Lent might have taken Wood to his home in Massachusetts.
Herkimer County District Attorney Michael Daley, now a Supreme Court Judge, prosecuted Lent. He is aware of the discovery of the skull, but says it's too premature to speculate whether it could belong to Sara Anne Wood.
"It's too premature to speculate; I'm sure NYS Police will conduct an exhaustive investigation and when the individual is identified, I hope it will bring closure to the family of a missing child somewhere in this region of the country," said Daley.
Another child, 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwater went missing from north of Albany in November of 2007.
The skull found in rural Saratoga County will be examined by world-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden and forensic dentist Dr. Lowell Levine at the State Police Forensic Lab in Albany. They will have to extract DNA from the roots of the teeth, and compare it with DNA from missing children. That process could take up to six weeks.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy says the weather forced police to call off the search for evidence at the scene, and that, as of now, no other evidence has been recovered. Murphy says the site is so remote, it's not feasible to bring in heavy lighting in order to search at night.
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