Balloon Boy's Mom admits to hoax, premeditation

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | October 23, 2009 at 05:10 pm

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The mother of the Heene family has admitted to authorities that the Balloon saga was a premeditated hoax. In a signed affidavit she has said that she and her husband, Richard Heene, planned the stunt for publicity at least 2 weeks prior to the day they called the media to report the story. She admits that she and her husband instructed the 3 boys, age 6, 8 and 10, to lie to media and to police.

DENVER (Reuters) - The mother of a Colorado boy thought to be aboard a homemade helium balloon has admitted to investigators the whole thing was a hoax, according to a court document made public on Friday.
The local sheriff had already said the October 15 "Balloon Boy" incident was a publicity stunt and expected felony charges to be filed against the 6-year-old boy's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene.

The live television images of the silver saucer-like balloon soaring through the Colorado skies captivated audiences until the boy turned up in the family's attic. Public sympathy turned to outrage when the family's account began to unravel.

According to a copy of a search warrant affidavit posted on the website of Fort Collins newspaper "The Coloradoan," Mayumi told investigators she and her husband lied to authorities and knew their son Falcon was at home as rescue teams tracked the balloon believing the boy was inside.

"The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest," the affidavit states.