A six-year-old who was thought to have floated away in a homemade balloon has been found alive and well.
It had originally been thought that Falcon Heene had climbed into the basket of a helium-filled flying-saucer-shaped balloon, which became untethered at 11:00 a.m. today.
The balloon which was built by the boy’s father, prompted a massive emergency response and was tracked by helicopters as it floated at a height of approximately 2,000 meters over Colorado’s eastern plains. Winds carried the home-built craft at approximately 50 km. When it crashed at around 1:40 p.m. and Falcon was not inside, many thought the worst.
Fortunately, he was found alive and well, hiding in a box in the family’s attic.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderen explained:
I don’t want to make a conjecture, but this is not the first time when we have been involved in searching for some child and once the child realizes people are looking for them, they hide because they’re afraid they’re going to get in trouble.
He added:
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened over the course of my career. I think the thing that was confusing is that we had the eyewitness that said that he climbed into this apparatus, which clearly was not the case.
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Video: Mayumi Heene, Falcon’s mother, appeared on Wife Swap.
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