Associated Press
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Investigators pored over e-mails, phone records and financial documents from the home of Richard Heene on Monday as they weighed felony charges and sought to determine who else might have helped the alleged balloon-boy hoax get off the ground.
The sheriff's office said its findings will be forwarded to prosecutors next week to decide if Richard and Mayumi Heene should be charged with falsely reporting that their 6-year-old child had drifted away in a home-built helium balloon to drum up publicity for a reality TV show.
But the investigation could reach beyond the Heenes and into the world of reality-show promotions.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said documents show that a media outlet had agreed to pay the Heenes. Alderden did not name the organization but said it was in an industry that blurs "the line between entertainment and news."
It was not clear whether the deal was signed before or after the alleged hoax, or whether the media outlet was a conspirator. If so, the organization could face charges.
The Heenes are amateur storm chasers who apparently wanted to star in a reality show that focused on a range of absurd experiments, such as attracting UFOs with a weather balloon, launching a model rocket into space and conducting an electromagnetic analysis of a terminally ill patient's spirit before death.
Robert Thomas, a collaborator who worked with Richard Heene on the idea, provided an e-mail to the Web site Gawker.com outlining his plan for the show. The sheriff's department questioned Thomas on Sunday, according to the researcher's lawyer, Linda Lee.
Thomas has said he had no idea that a possible hoax would involve the Heene children.
Richard Heene's lawyer, David Lane, 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 Heenes remained holed up in their home until midafternoon, when they left in without commenting.
Alderden said he is seeking charges against the Heenes that include 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 would be seeking restitution for the costs, though he did not have an estimate.
Associated Press writers Dan Elliott and Colleen Slevin in Denver and Greg Risling in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
