"Balloon boy" parents concocted stunt to market themselves, says sheriff

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) - The "balloon boy" parents in Fort Collins, Colorado, concocted the stunt to market themselves for a television show, Larimer Country Sheriff Department said Sunday.

Six-year-old Falcon Heene smiles as he is surrounded by reporters  on the lawn of his house in Fort Collins, Colorado Oct. 15, 2009.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said at a press conference that while police were searching for the boy, Falcom Heene Thursday, the boy may not have been hiding in the rafters of the family's garage. He may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park.