Charges To Be Filed in Balloon Boy Saga

FORT COLLINS, CO - The sheriff who said he believed a couple was being honest when they reported their son was set adrift on a homemade helium balloon now says criminal charges will be filed in the incident.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden didn't say Saturday night what the charges would be, but he did say the parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, aren't under arrest.

The Heenes spent much of the afternoon at the sheriff's office and were headed home where they were expected to speak to reporters.

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.   Actually, Falcon had been hiding in the rafters of his family's
garage.

The Heene family was actively pitching a reality TV show to TLC and other producers before their balloon adventure on Thursday.

Slideshow: Images Of Balloon

Link: Listen To The 911 Call

TMZ says the family was aggressively looking for its own TV show and approached the producers of “Wife Swap” also.

At a Friday press conference, the Larimer County sheriff said he would look into comments made by Falcon Heene on Thursday night that indicate Heene’s disappearance was part of a hoax.

But for now, police say they have no indication the family was carrying out a hoax when they reported their 6-year-old son was in a helium balloon that floated away from their home.

Falcon Heene was found hiding in the home's garage Thursday afternoon, hours after the balloon launched and traveled more than 50 miles.

Questions were raised about the incident after the boy said "we did this for a show" in a live interview with CNN.

Police also released the 911 call from the family.

The call is made by Mayumi Heene, the mother of 6-year-old son Falcon Heene.

Mayumi Heene is hysterical for the first part of the call.

Richard Heene then gets on the call and explains in detail to the operator how the “flying saucer” works. He also describes the size of the balloon.

Richard Heene says the family can’t find Falcon Heene and that a son said he saw Falcon climb into the balloon.

“He’s headed right toward the Loveland Airport,” Richard Heene says.

Falcon Heene also got sick twice on national television on Friday when he and his father were asked during separate TV interviews what he meant about his comment on Larry King that "we did this for a show."

During an ABC interview, Falcon Heene said Friday: "Mom, I feel like I'm going to vomit." He then left the room with his mother and could be heard gagging.

During a live interview on NBC shown simultaneously on Friday, Falcon threw up into a container when his father was answering the
same question.

Falcon Heene was found hiding in a cardboard box in his family's garage attic Thursday after being feared aboard a homemade helium balloon that hurtled 50 miles through the sky on live television.

The strange story got stranger when Falcon made the admission on live TV. Father Richard Heene wouldn't answer King and his mother blurted out "No" after Falcon alluded to a hoax.

The boys parents, Richard and Mayuri, are storm chasers who appeared twice in the ABC reality show "Wife Swap," most recently in March.

Investigators had searched the house twice, and interviewed one of Falcon Heene's older brothers. The brother reported that the boy floated off in the balloon was "very adamant," and the parents "were besides themselves with worry."

The discovery marked a bizarre end to a saga that started when the giant silvery balloon floated away from the family's yard Thursday morning, sparking a frantic rescue operation that involved military helicopters and briefly shut down Denver International Airport.