Con. Stephen Symons had just returned from a cruise with his eight-year-old son, Stephen Junior, when disaster struck Friday.

Family members say he had asked permission to extend his holiday by two days but the Police Service refused saying his services would be needed for the impending storm.

And they believe he had agreed to drive home a colleague who insisted on going home just as the storm was starting.

Police are not entirely sure whether Con. Symons was in the driver's seat. What they do know is that the Police cruiser was headed west on the Causeway when, for some reason, the car could not proceed. Its three occupants left the car before they were swept off the bridge into the sea.

The family knew that something had happened to Stephen when news came Saturday that four people were missing.

"Him and his mom are really tight so if he don't call, there's a problem," was how Shawn Place, a half-brother put it.

"And he didn't call so suspicion was raised."

Mr. Place said the family believed that Con. Symons was driving the car but "we don't know who gave him authority to actually take them home".

Con. Symons, 37, joined the force as a Cadet while still in his teens. In 1991 he formed Karaoke Productions with his brother Shawn Place and then wife ZBM broadcaster Sherri Symons. The partnership would last about ten years.

He later bought a taxi and became an excellent ambassador for Bermuda tourism, Mr. Place added.

"He had a drive for trying to make money," said Mr. Place. "That was his thing, he liked to make money. He liked to take trips and go golfing."

The son of Calvin Place who now resides in Jamaica, Con. Symons was a member of a large family and besides his son and his father, is survived by six sisters, two brothers, two grandmothers and his mother Roslyn Symons.

Mr. Place described his brother, a die-hard entrepreneur and avid golfer who loved being a Police officer, as a risk taker when The Royal Gazette spoke to him this week.

He was very much into boats and at one time used to scramble.

"He liked speed. He always used to go to Daytona."

The pair were born on the same day three years apart, and Con. Symons had introduced him to the Daytona 500, Nascar's biggest race attraction, he revealed.

"We raced a few times when we were in Florida," he said. "We definitely got around. And I always used to try to get him race me when he was fixing up his Police bike. But he wasn't getting pulled into that."

Other members of Con. Symons' family could not be contacted by press-time last night.

"The family was definitely taken aback," Mr. Place added. "They are happy he was found so he can have a proper burial. And there's a real concern about his mother and his son."