Academic life in the campus was interrupted when invading Japanese forces landed in Iloilo. As a consequence of the invasion, missionaries assigned at Central fled and took refuge in the mountain barrios of Katipunan, Tapaz, Capiz. They hid in the forest they called "Hopevale" with the help of their Filipino friends. They were eventually captured by the Japanese troops on 19 December 1943. The missionaries begged them to free the Filipino captives and instead offered themselves as ransom. At the dawn of 20 December 1943, the missionaries asked to be allowed to pray and, an hour later, they told their Japanese captors they were ready to die. The adults were beheaded and the children were bayoneted.