“To gain attention” is probably beyond the scope merely of this publicity stunt. What about dragging the kids with them to chase tornadoes (a contemporary stupid hype fad among some, even now on teevee in and of itself as a subject matter) or to go into the eye of a hurricane? It's worth thinking if the kids are being brought along to pay attention to the father's doing these things, to make the father feel important.

No need for huge jail or prison time — a few months to a year would do.

No need to take the kids away — just do the counseling and related stuff.

Make them pay for search and rescue, certainly. Garnish any future teevee or book revenue.

It's too much to expect the media to apologize for its idiotic sensationalism, as it ought.

the more I read about this father, the sadder I get for the kids.
For someone to use a child as a part of their plan to gain attention is about the sickest thing I can think of. I hope the proper authorities can have some long interviews with the kids and find out what is going on with that family. It seems like the whole family needs help. I hope they get it. Maybe treatment would be better than prosecution?

He could have made it look like the kid 'accidentally' let the balloon loose.

It looks odd enough that it would have gotten media coverage, balloon on the loose/etc and the angle of the kid being in trouble/etc would have made all the late night show monologues.

And no criminal charges.

Interesting that they are active in the ACLU.

Since he built the ballooon and is well versed in flying them he would have been quite aware of the weight of everything on the balloon and the exact physics of what could and could not be placed inside to launch it. Every ounce is important.

So since he lied about the weight it seems logical to deduce he knew the balloon could not have launched with the child in it and faked the numbers in the hope that the box would not be recovered and thus the police could not prove the story was impossible.

As to the ACLU rumor, we shall see though I understand they did represent him before and they are active in the organization.

I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean…. If the parents really did think the kid was being carried away then their belief was sincere. It doesn't matter if it was determined later that the weight would have been too great for the balloon to launch with the child.

That aside, I'm not defending the parents. As I've said from the beginning, “Drama queens”.

As far as reports that the ACLU will represent them… I wonder if the fine Mr, Heene started this, too. He just full of hot air. Actually not even that- just helium.

And yes, it does seem odd that the ACLU would represent them in this case.

Drama queens.