Prosecutors said Tuesday they haven’t decided whether to file charges against the parents accused of falsely reporting their son was in a runaway balloon, sparking a massive rescue attempt before the boy was found at the family’s Fort Collins home.
The father’s attorney, David Lane, also announced Tuesday that a special prosecutor has been named to review his complaint concerning the sheriff investigating the couple.
Sheriff’s investigators turned their case over to the district attorney Monday.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said Richard and Mayumi Heene were lying when they reported their 6-year-old son Falcon was in a homemade helium balloon that lifted off from their backyard in Fort Collins on Oct. 15, drifted across two counties and landed in a farm field.
Lane, the lawyer representing Richard Heene, claims Alderden broke privacy laws by publicly saying social services were looking into the welfare of Falcon and the Heenes’ two other sons, ages 8 and 10.
Lane wrote a letter to the district attorney Monday asking for an investigation and prosecution of Alderden.
He said Tuesday that Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett will investigate his complaint. “As long as it’s not a whitewash investigation, I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Lane said.
