The mother of one of the two Bermudians still missing following last week's devastating attacks on the World Trade Center is preparing to fly home to Bermuda.

Gloria Francis Gatton told The Royal Gazette last night that she still holds out hope that her son, Boyd, is alive although the family has not heard from him since last Tuesday.

Last night, Mrs. Gatton described her son as a "very kind person" who would happily go the distance for people.

She said her son is a Muslim who has also been very involved with the Masonic Lodge of New Jersey, where he has been living for the past eight years.

Along with 31-year-old Rhondell Tankard, Boyd Gatton, remains unaccounted for one week after two hijacked planes suicide crashed into New York's signature twin towers.

Both Bermudians were working in offices within the 110-storey towers when the buildings came down in a shower of terror roughly 20 minutes later.

Mr. Gatton worked in building two of the doomed twins which once dominated the New York skyline at Fiduciary Trust Company International.

The portfolio management company's offices were located on the 95th floor. Yesterday, the company confirmed that Mr. Gatton is among 85 of its employees still listed "unaccounted for". Fiduciary Trust has confirmed two deaths among its staff to date, but 560 people have been found safe.

Speaking from Jamaica last night, Mrs. Gatton said her son actually contacted his sister in Bermuda seconds after the first plane collided with North tower.

"He left a message on her machine when the first plane struck and told her she would soon hear some exciting news," she said. "At that time he had 18 minutes to get out."

Mrs. Gatton said she believes Boyd probably would have been safe, but may have turned around to help someone else.

"He'd put somebody else ahead of himself," she said. "That's the kind of person he is. I think he probably stopped to help someone."

Mrs. Gatton and another of Boyd's sisters - Pauline O'Connor, with whom she has been staying in Jamaica for the past six months - are flying to Bermuda on Thursday.

Returning home will make communication with the States in regards to her son easier, Mrs. Gatton said. And, if she needs to fly to New York quickly, she can do so from Bermuda.

"I am so anxious to get back," she added.

Last night Mrs. Gatton extended her thanks to the hundreds of Bermudians who attended candlelight services for Boyd and Rhondell Tankard last week.

"I thank all of Bermuda for praying for Boyd and Ms Tankard," she said. "And I'd like to send my condolences to (Ms Tankard's) family in case she is gone. I know they are praying for us as well."

She also thanked the local Muslim community for a prayer service they held for her son and praised his fellow Masons in New Jersey, who sprang into action to look for Mr. Gatton just hours after the tragedy.

But as the family clings to hope for Mr. Gatton's life, a friend in New Jersey spoke out yesterday about his increasing fears he will never see his friend again.

"As it gets later and later, you start to lose that hope," Will Garcia said yesterday.

Working at a photography shop on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, the clean view Mr. Garcia had of the tragedy as it unfolded may have tempered his optimism about his friend's safety.

In the shop, horrified, he watched with his own eyes, as one hijacked plane and then another, ploughed into the sides of the twin towers.

His horror only compounded when the two towers plunged to the ground - leaving behind thousands of devastated families, a nation in mourning and a world on the brink of war.

"I'm in shock," said Mr. Garcia. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. It's hard to believe that I saw it all. Boyd and I had recently taken pictures of it (the World Trade Center). It's hard to believe this has happened."

Mr. Garcia had even made plans to get together with Mr. Gatton on that fateful Tuesday.

"We were supposed to go out for a few drinks in the local bars that very night," said Mr. Garcia. "We did that once a while."

The two men became friends when Boyd came into the photography shop to buy his first camera, The Royal Gazette was told.

Mr. Garcia called his friend "an amateur photographer looking to go professional" and said he enjoyed taking abstract photos.

Although the hours have turned to days, he is still waiting for his friend to come into the shop or contact him in some other way. "But we haven't heard from him yet. He just hasn't turned up," he said.

And with each passing moment, his hope for Mr. Gatton fades just a little more.

But Mrs. Gatton said Boyd cheated death at the hands of terrorists once before.

When the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993, Mr. Gatton was employed by UPS. He delivered a package to the building minutes before the bomb exploded. Even his employers feared he was lost when they heard of the blast.

But Mr. Gatton walked into his office safely.

In 1993, at least, Boyd Gatton had time on his side.