In 1962, the Burmese army staged a coup under the leadership of General Ne Win. Sao was arrested and imprisoned. Sargent and her daughters were placed under house arrest. For the next two years Sargent worked tirelessly to discover what had become of her husband, but eventually, she had to face the truth. “Sao himself told me, even before the Coup d’Etat, that if anything happened to him I should wait two years. If he did not come back, that meant he was not alive anymore.”
Sao also told her that she should return to her parents in Austria. With the help of an Austrian Ambassador, Sargent and her daughters made a daring escape, leaving behind everything but three suitcases.