Authorities investigating the Colorado family accused of perpetrating a hoax over their son's feared disappearance in a balloon to promote a reality show said they don't expect to bring possible charges until at least next week.
Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said that investigators don't anticipate finishing their reports and presenting them to the district attorney's office until next week. It will then be up to prosecutors to decide whether to file charges against Richard Heene or his wife, Mayumi.
The six-year-old boy, Falcon, was never in the flying saucer-shaped balloon, which flew unmanned for 80km. His family said they discovered he had been hiding in the family's garage.
The couple's lawyer, David Lane, said earlier in the day that he expected charges to be filed by Wednesday. With television cameras and reporters set up outside the Heene home, Lane has stressed that the Heenes are willing to turn themselves in to avoid the spectacle of a public arrest.
Lane declined to say directly whether he believes the incident was a hoax but said the Heenes are innocent unless convicted. The family remained in seclusion Monday at their home.
"If they (prosecutors) can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, that's one thing. If they can't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, that's another," he told The Associated Press.
Investigators also say they want to question an associate of Richard Heene after e-mails surfaced showing the two had discussed a balloon hoax months ago as part of a public relations campaign for the reality show.
Robert Thomas, of Denver, claimed Heene had told him he was planning a media stunt to promote a proposed reality show.
Thomas, a self-described researcher, sold his story to blog Gawker.com and provided the Web site with e-mail exchanges between him and Heene. Thomas said the show would feature Heene as a mad scientist who carries out various scientific experiments.
Gawker.com editor-in-chief Gabriel Snyder confirmed the New York-based web site paid Thomas, but declined to say how much for the story billed with the headline: "Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax."
Snyder said Thomas was planning to meet with investigators but Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman Kathy Messick wouldn't comment on whether he had been interviewed. Messages left for Thomas by The Associated Press were not returned.
Thomas, 25, said in his Gawker.com story that the plan he knew about did not involve Heene's children.
The emergence of the e-mails is the latest twist in a story that played out live on national television last Friday (NZT) when the balloon floated away.
Some flights at Denver International Airport had to be changed to a different runway. The National Guard provided two helicopters in an attempt to rescue the child, costing several thousand dollars. When the balloon landed without the boy, officials thought he had fallen out and began the grim search for his body.
Sheriff Jim Alderden announced Sunday that he's seeking charges, including felonies, against Richard and Mayumi Heene. Alderden said the stunt, two weeks in the planning, was a marketing ploy by the Heenes, who met in acting school in Hollywood and have twice appeared on the reality TV show Wife Swap, in which wives from two very different families trade places for two weeks.
The sheriff said he expected to recommend charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant. Federal charges were also possible.
The most serious charges are felonies and carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $US500,000 ($NZ673,128) fine. Alderden said they would be seeking restitution for the costs, though he didn't have an estimate.
As Alderden told reporters on Sunday that the whole thing was a hoax, the Heenes were shopping for snacks at Wal-Mart, where Richard Heene told the AP he was "seeking counsel".
"This thing has become so convoluted," Heene said, tears welling in his eyes.
Once investigators got a good look at the "flying saucer" they determined that the thin mylar balloon covered with foil and held together with duct tape would not have been able to launch with the 17kg boy inside, according to Colorado State University physics professor Brian Jones.
Alderden said he didn't know whether the six-year-old had been hiding in the rafters of the family's garage during an intense five-hour search, as the family claimed.
"For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park," the sheriff said.
The sheriff said all three of the Heenes' sons knew of the hoax, but likely won't face charges because of their ages. The oldest son is 10.
