Mother reveals balloon drama was just hot air

Published on Saturday 24 October 2009 19:55

THE mother of a six-year-old boy who sparked an air rescue operation after reporting him adrift in a helium balloon has admitted it was a hoax.

Mayumi Heene allegedly told investigators the ruse was designed to get her family, who have already starred on the American version of Wife Swap, back on television.

She has allegedly admitted that she and her husband knew all along that their son Falcon was safe at home as millions of US TV viewers watched what they thought was a box containing the child attached to the flying saucer-shaped balloon float through the sky.

Her confession was revealed in an affidavit drawn up by law enforcers to obtain a search warrant for her home in the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The affidavit, prepared by investigator Robert Heffernan, said: "Mayumi described that she and Richard Heene devised this hoax approximately two weeks earlier… She and Richard had instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax."

Police officers questioned the parents separately on 17 October, two days after the flight drama. According to her affidavit, she admitted "she and Richard Heene had lied to authorities on 15 October, 2009".

She told investigators "that the release of the flying saucer was intentional as a hoax. The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest".

The Heenes made frantic calls to a TV station, the emergency services and federal aviation officials claiming their son was on board the homemade balloon when it was accidentally launched from their backyard. Millions watched live TV broadcasts as media and National Guard helicopters tracked the balloon across the plains.

It finally landed in a field, where ground crews looked inside but found no sign of the boy. Later, the relieved-looking couple reported that Falcon had been hiding in their garage all along.

But suspicion was raised when Falcon made a comment on television that sounded like "You had said we did this for a show."

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said he will recommend charging the Heenes with conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant.

The most serious charges carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and fines of more than 300,000.

Alderden said authorities would also be seeking to recover the costs of the balloon chase, though he would not provide a figure.

Richard Heene continues to deny the incident was a hoax.

His lawyer, David Lane, yesterday said he was waiting to see the evidence. "Allegations are cheap," Lane said. "The fact that they're releasing an affidavit before an arrest is made – I've never seen that before," Lane told newspaper The Coloradoan.

"It's further proof of what that sheriff will do to further his own agenda and try to make it unfair to the Heenes.

He added: "The Heenes haven't even seen it. We still maintain if they are going to be arrested, we will turn them in. This is just more grandstanding by the sheriff."

Politicians in Fort Collins, which has a population of 135,000, are already worried that the incident may have tarnished their community's reputation – and that of its law enforcers.

Mayor Doug Hutchinson yesterday said he received "very hostile e-mails" about the story in which local sheriff's officers are described as "country bumpkins" and he is mocked as head "of a city where something like this could happen".

"I was wrapped up in it myself," Hutchinson said of the balloon chase. "There was a lot of emotion, and people could relate to what was going on."

Locals gathered at the Heene home last night waiting unsuccessfully for Richard Heene to answer questions that were left for him in a cardboard box by reporters.

Resident Felicia Klitch said she was disappointed the city she grew up in was gaining notoriety for a story filled with alleged lies and deceit. "It's a really bad representation of Fort Collins," she said.

The Heenes twice appeared on the television reality show Wife Swap, featuring wives from two very different families who trade places for two weeks.

Acquaintances said Richard Heene had plans for other possible shows. The producer of Wife Swap had a show in development with the Heenes but said the deal was now off. The TLC cable network also said Heene had pitched a reality show months ago, but it passed on the offer.