The family of terrorist victim Boyd Gatton visited the remains of the World Trade Center at the weekend to finally bring closure to the nightmare that has devastated their lives.

His nieces Rukiya O'Connor, Kenderee Gatton and his cousin Linda Taylor decided to travel to New York for the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Ground Zero and assist his sister in the dreaded task of packing up his apartment.

Sisters Rukiya and Kenderee had planned the Thanksgiving weekend with Boyd, along with their cousin Shalynn Smith, back in August this year.

They had purchased their tickets and were already planning their itinerary when tragedy struck on September 11.

Boyd was working for Fiduciary Trust Company International on the 97th floor of the second of the twin towers to be hit by suicide hijackers - leaving no hope for his family that he would survive the terrorist attack.

He remains missing with 3,900 other victims.

Overwhelmed with the loss of their uncle, the young women had considered cancelling their trip, but later decided to go through with the plan to pay tribute to their Uncle Boyd, and to say their last farewell.

And on Saturday morning, accompanied by Boyd's sister Pauline O'Connor, his cousin Linda, both from Bermuda, best friend Will Garcia, girlfriend Audrey McKenzie, and her daughter Kalisha Connikie, all from New Jersey, they finally brought an end to the nightmare that has dominated their lives for weeks.

Travelling from Boyd's home in New Jersey by ferry across the Hudson River towards the financial centre of New York, everyone stood in silence staring at the famous skyline, which had been so obviously savaged by terrorists.

But it was not until they each neared the site where the World Trade Centre once stood that the full impact of the devastation hit them. And there they cried.

Hugging each other for comfort, they stared silently at the mangled mess.

The enormity of the attack, and the destruction it left behind, sinking in for one last time. Some of Boyd's family had already visited Ground Zero, and some had not. But they said they wanted to visit the site together, so they could support each other and then finally close the chapter and move on.

Police liaison officers at the site took the family for a "tour of the cordoned off area in a Land Rover, letting them see first hand where Boyd had come to his death.

Kenderee, 26, unlike her sister Rukiya, 20, had chosen not to visit New York with her mother soon after the attacks, so had never been in the city, let alone at Ground Zero, since her uncle's death.

But after visiting the site on Saturday, she said she was glad she had finally done it.

At the end of the weekend break, she said: "The weekend was very sad because this was a trip we were supposed to spend with my uncle, but unfortunately he was not here.

"Going into his apartment for the first time was very difficult - I kept imagining that he would walk through the door.

"But we got to spend time with family, and we met a lot of Boyd's friends, which was nice."

And she said she was glad she had waited a while before visiting Ground Zero. Even on Saturday, some weeks after his death, she found the reality of her loss overwhelming.

"I felt physically sick when we went into Ground Zero," said Kenderee. "I was trying to imagine how it looked when we used to come and meet my uncle here from work. But I couldn't. It's a different place. The pictures on television look nothing like the reality. It's so much more worse than people think it is.

"But I'm glad I've been. I said my goodbyes and I told my Uncle Boyd that I missed him. I feel I have closure now."

Rukiya, who visited Ground Zero with her mother back in September, said the site looked much improved now.

She said: "I said my goodbyes back in September, but it was nice to be able to come back with the rest of my family. I wanted to support my sister and aunt.

"We were supposed to be spending the whole weekend with my uncle, and we have really missed him, it wasn't the same without him. We used to hang out and have a nice time. We loved coming to stay with him. He used to call us his brats.

"We've had a good weekend, and we have met a lot of Boyd's friends, but it hasn't been the same. It will never be the same."

And Linda, who grew up with Boyd in St. George's, said she knew she had to make the trip to New York if she was ever going to move on properly.

Filling with tears, she said: "I felt the strong need to come this time, particularly because Boyd and Pauline's sister, Sharon, has just died (from cancer). It was sad, but necessary, for me to get to grips with what happened. I feel I can close the chapter now and move on. And I think it's brought the family even closer together".

The only regret the family had was that Shalynn had been unable to make the trip, as hoped. She was unable to attend due to work commitments, and Boyd's mother Betty has been not well enough to travel.

Boyd's girlfriend Audrey visited the site for the second time on Saturday.

She said: "I didn't think I would get so upset again, but coming here and seeing the reality of it, is terrible. I don't think anyone understands unless you have seen it. It is just so terribly said."

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