Richard Heene reportedly planned balloon boy hoax very carefully

October 20, 7:26 AMSalt Lake City Headlines ExaminerMarci Stone

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Sheriff Jim Alderden announced yesterday that it would be at least next week before his department is ready to file criminal charges against the Heene family for the "Balloon boy hoax."

On Good Morning America this morning, a close friend of Richard Heene, Robert Thomas spoke about how this hoax took several months to pull off and how Richard Heene was obsessed with pulling it off.  Richard Heene had the entire hoax planned step-by-step.  Since Richard Heene hired a lawyer over the weekend, the media hasn't heard or spoke to him. 

The Colorado Larimer County Sherriff's office held a press conference Sunday morning to announce that the Heene family “Balloon Boy” incident was a publicity stunt conducted by the Heene family with the hopes of marketing themselves for a reality TV show sometime in the future.

Sheriff Jim Alderden stated that they have uncovered evidence and “It has been determine this was a hoax, a publicity stunt.” The sheriff’s office has determined that the weather balloon would in fact hold the weight of a 37 pound boy.

The Sheriff said that everything about the hoax was believable at the time, and they were under the impression that they were in a recovery mode of a 6-year-boy. The Sheriff said: “We have discovered that these people are actors.”

The CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer when Falcon Heene said, “We did it for the show,” the Sheriff said was an “ah-ha moment” for the police. But they also wanted the Heene family to open up to them, because a confession makes their job easier. So they had to make it appear as though they agreed with the family in thinking that this was not a hoax.

The Sheriff’s office did ask the family to take a polygraph on Saturday. They didn’t ask the family to do the test on Friday because of the stress the family was under from the media that day, and test results may have been skewed. They asked Richard Heene to come to the station yesterday, and during that time authorities went to the Heene home to speak to the mother and children seperately.

The Sheriff is unable to confirm or deny that the family passed the polygraph tests or if there was a confession. But he was able to say that they feel they have obtained enough evidence to file the following charges: conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, false reporting to authorities, and attempting to influence a public servant. They have not filed the charges yet, but will in the near future.

Federal charges may also be charged, and they will have more information on that next week. Now that they are sure of the charges, restitution will also be sought the sheriff said, but they didn’t have a dollar amount for that yet.

Child and Family Protective services has been called and will be conducting an investigation to determine if the children will remain in the parents custody, said the Sheriff.  The children were well aware of the hoax, the Sheriif said.  The children will not face charges, the Sheriff said in response to a press question. 

The Sheriff also stated that there hasn't been any remorse shown by the parents for this stunt.  

Source: CNN live and Good Morning America live

Photo:  ABC News/Associated Press

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