Richard and Mayumi Heene with their son Bradford arrive home after a shopping trip in Fort Collins, Colo., on Oct. 19. Mayumi Heene has admitted to investigators the runaway balloon was a hoax.
FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2009 file photo, Falcon Heene, 6, front, is guided back to a news conference by his mother, Mayumi, outside the family's home in Fort Collins, Colo..
FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2009 file photo, Falcon Heene, 6, front right, is hugged by his mother, Mayumi, as television photographers crowd around them after a news conference outside the family's home in Fort Collins, Colo.
Richard Heene, Brad, Ryo and Falcon go into a tile store while waiting for their mother Mayumi Heene Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colo
Larimer County Sheriff Department officers remove several boxes and a computer while executing a search warrant on the Richard Heene home Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colo.
Larimer County Sheriff Department officer places a box of items removed ftom the Richard Heena home onto an officer's car while executing a search warrant Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colo.
Larimer County Sheriff Department officers arrive to execute a search warrant on the Heene home Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colo.
The mother of the 6-year-old boy once feared missing inside a runaway helium balloon admitted the whole saga was a hoax, according to court documents released Friday.
Mayumi Heene told sheriff's deputies that she and her husband Richard "knew all along that Falcon was hiding in the residence" in Fort Collins, according to an affidavit used to get a search warrant for the home.
She allegedly told investigators the incident was a hoax meant to make them more marketable to the media.
"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," the affidavit said.
Richard Heene has denied a hoax. His lawyer, David Lane, said Friday he is waiting to see the evidence in the case.
"Allegations are cheap," Lane said.
Mayumi Heene's lawyer, Lee Christian, was traveling and didn't immediately respond to messages left with his office.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said he will recommend charges against the Heenes including 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 are felonies and carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Alderden said authorities also would be seeking restitution for the costs of the balloon chase, though he didn't provide a figure.
His office has said it will likely be next week before it forwards its findings to prosecutors to decide on charges.
In frantic calls to a TV station, 911 and federal aviation officials, the Heenes reported that they feared Falcon was in the homemade, saucer-like balloon when it was accidentally launched from their back yard last week.
Millions watched as media and National Guard helicopters tracked the balloon across the Colorado plains. It landed in a dusty farm field, where ground crews looked inside but found no sign of the boy.
Later, the relieved-looking couple reported Falcon had been hiding in their garage the whole time. But suspicion heated up when Falcon made a comment on CNN that sounded like "You had said we did this for a show."
Sheriff's deputies questioned the parents separately on Oct. 17, two days after the flight. Mayumi Heene told authorities "she and Richard Heene had lied to authorities on October 15, 2009 (the day of the flight)," the affidavit said.
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 affidavit said.
The Heenes twice had appeared on ABC's reality show "Wife Swap," and 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 is now off. The TLC cable network also said Heene had pitched a reality show months ago, but it passed on the offer.
Sheriff's officials declined to comment Friday.
Among the items taken by authorities during the home search Saturday were video cameras, computers, hard drives, a picture of a flying saucer, receipts, papers, a phone/address book and a flight itinerary. The list didn't identify the passenger, destination or date of travel.
Mayumi Heene, the mother of the 6-year-old Fort Collins boy believed to have floated away in a helium-filled balloon last week, admitted to investigators that the incident was a hoax she and her husband had planned two weeks in advance.
According to documents released Friday, Heene, 45, told Larimer County investigators two days after the balloon flight that she and her husband, Richard Heene, knew all along that their son Falcon was hiding in their Fort Collins home, and was not aboard the balloon as it floated for 50 miles above three northern Colorado counties and landed in a field near Denver International Airport.
On Sunday, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Richard and Mayumi Heene are under investigation for felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public official, and for a misdemeanor count of providing false information to authorities.
Their home was searched by investigators the night of Oct. 17. The search warrant, supporting affidavit and record of items seized by detectives were released Friday.
The balloon's 2 1/2-hour flight captured the world's attention on Oct. 15, as media outlets followed the flight of what Richard Heene said was an early-stage experimental commuter craft. When the silver, flying-saucer-shaped balloon landed, there was no boy on board.
Media, law enforcement and military aircraft participated in the chase. Some Denver International Airport traffic was briefly diverted during the incident.
According to the search-warrant affidavit, Richard Heene told Larimer County Deputy Jake Bowser he had searched the residence and could not find his son. Bowser and Richard Heene conducted a second fruitless search.
Richard Heene told Bowser that his son had climbed into a battery compartment on the balloon before tethers meant to secure the craft during a controlled experiment came loose and the balloon drifted away.
Falcon Heene popped up two hours after the balloon landed. He told officials he had been hiding in the attic of the garage because he was upset his dad had yelled at him for playing around the battery compartment, according to the documents.
According to the affidavit, Mayumi Heene said the hoax was designed to make the family more marketable to the media, including television reality shows. The storm-chasing family has twice appeared on the reality show "Wife Swap." Their family exploits are well documented in a catalog of YouTube videos.
Richard Heene, a construction contractor, video producer and self-taught scientist, has courted various television personalities, including late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, to invest in his ventures.
Mayumi Heene told investigators that the flying-saucer-shaped balloon had been made specifically for the hoax, and that its release was intentional.
In a videotape of the launch shot by 10-year-old Bradford Heene, Richard is heard yelling and seen kicking the docking station after the balloon soared into the sky. In a recording of a subsequent 9-1-1 call to report the launch, Mayumi Heene is heard sobbing as she explains she believes her son is in the craft.
Mayumi Heene told Larimer County investigators that she had instructed her boys, Falcon, Bradford and Ryo, 8, to lie to authorities and to the media about the incident, the affidavit said.
Attorney David Lane, who represents Richard Heene, disregarded Mayumi Heene's confession.
"Her English is not that great, first of all," Lane said, adding that he doesn't know the circumstances under which she was questioned.
Lane said that the sheriff interviewed the Heenes separately and would not let them talk to each other.
"That is going to be the subject matter of some scrutiny," Lane said. "Was she under arrest? Was she not under arrest? Was she free to leave?"
Lane also said Richard Heene has never admitted anything about a hoax.
Mayumi Heene's attorney was out of town and did not respond to calls and e-mails.
Alderden could not be reached for comment Friday. The Larimer County district attorney's office said it has not received the case yet from the sheriff.
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