Balloon boy parents will face criminal charges for 'hoax'

After initially accepting that Richard and Mayumi Heene, from Colorado, prompted a major rescue effort because they genuinely believed their six-year-old son had stowed away on the helium balloon, the local sheriff said that he and the media had been "manipulated" by the family.

Jim Alderden, the Larimer County sheriff, said the parents, who had once appeared on the reality TV series Wife Swap, had planned the stunt for two weeks in order to attract sufficient publicity that they would get their own show.


The couple, who first met at drama school, "put on a very good show for us, and we bought it" an embarrassed Mr Alderden announced at a press conference. "On the bizarre meter, this rates a 10."
He said the pair had not yet been arrested but were likely to face both misdemeanour and more serious felony charges.

They could include conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant, he said.

Some of the more serious charges are punishable by six years in prison and a $500,000 (£300,000) fine.
All three of the Heenes' children knew about the hoax but are unlikely to be charged as the oldest is only 10.

Mr Alderden said the parents had shown "no evidence of any remorse".

Sheriff's deputies searched their home in Fort Collins on Saturday, taking away several boxes and a computer, after the family spent the day being questioned.

In an elaborate land and air rescue that gripped television viewers across the world, the authorities pursued the flying saucer-like balloon after it took off from the Heenes's home and soared thousands of feet into the air last Thursday.

Mr and Mrs Heene said they were convinced Falcon was inside the balloon's cockpit but, five hours later, he was discovered hiding in the attic of their garage.

Suspicions about the drama grew after it emerged that Mr Heane, an amateur inventor, was obsessed with becoming a TV star.

Then, in an interview with CNN, Falcon was asked by his father why he had not come out of his hiding place sooner. He replied: "You guys said that we did this for the show."

Mr Alderden said the apparent slip-up was their "first 'ah-ha' moment" but added that investigators were also suspicious about the flimsiness of the strings with which the Heanes had tethered the balloon.

Robert Thomas, a former business associate of Mr Heene, told Gawker, a US website, that he had previously discussed a plan to kick-start his TV career by using a weather balloon to fake a UFO sighting.

Mr Heene was "driven by ego and fame", and was determined to get his own television series in which he would conduct bizarre scientific experiments, he said.

Barbara Slusser, a friend and fellow storm chaser, said she stopped collaborating with Mr Heane because he kept bringing his young children on expeditions, even one into the eye of Hurricane Gustav.

She said he had an "explosive" personality, once trying to stuff lavatory paper down her throat during an argument.

Mr Heene said on Sunday the saga has become "convoluted".

The Telegraph. Oct 18, 2009.