FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The parents who set off a worldwide drama by reporting their 6-year-old son was inside a flying saucer-like helium balloon hurtling over Colorado concocted the stunt to market themselves for a television show, a sheriff said Sunday.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said at an extraordinarily candid news conference that the boy, Falcon Heene, may not have even been hiding in the rafters of the family's garage during the intense five-hour search for him Thursday afternoon.
The sheriff says the parents "put on a very good show."
The sheriff says he intends to recommend charges against the couple that could result in prison time and a $500,000 fine.
Richard Heene has insisted that the drama that unfolded Thursday wasn't a publicity stunt. He and his wife reported that their 6-year-old son, Falcon, had been inside the flying-saucer shaped balloon when it launched from their backyard.
"We are talking to the district attorney, federal officials to see if perhaps there aren't additional federal charges that are appropriate in this circumstance," said Alderden.
Previous story:FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A 6-year-old Colorado boy feared to have floated off in a helium balloon has been found safe at his home, hiding in a cardboard box in the garage attic.
Sheriff Jim Alderman turned to reporters during a news conference and held thumbs up and said, "He's at the house."
Alderden said an investigator on the scene saw the boy and he was fine. He said the boy apparently has been in the attic the whole time.
The father of the boy held his son in his arms as he spoke to reporters after the child was found hiding in the garage.
Richard Heene says they were working to launch the balloon Thursday morning, and he yelled at 6-year-old Falcon for playing in it.
The boy says he hid in the rafters of the family's garage because he was scared when his dad yelled.
The father says Falcon's brother saw his sibling inside the compartment, and the family thought he was aboard when the balloon launched. It was not immediately clear if the launch was accidental.
The family has appeared on the ABC reality show "Wife Swap." Richard Heene bristled when asked whether the incident was a publicity stunt, calling it "horrible after the crap we just went through."
During a live interview on CNN, Falcon Heene said he heard his family calling his name as he hid in the rafters of their garage. At the time, there was a frantic effort to bring down the balloon safely.
Falcon's father asked, "Why didn't you come out?" The boy answered, "You had said we did this for a show."
After the CNN interview, the father said he didn't know what his son meant.
Richard Heene adamantly has denied the notion that the whole thing was a big publicity stunt.
Falcon's family was last on "Wife Swap" in March, favorites of the audience who had voted to have them featured again on the show's 100th episode.
In "Wife Swap," two mothers trade places for a few weeks. Producers try to match families with wildly different attitudes and lifestyles to see if sparks fly.
When they first appeared last fall, the Heenes were described as storm chasers who lived on the edge and were matched with a Connecticut family who considered safety to be paramount.
