To add to it, there is also a sad history of children hiding in places like car trunks and dying within steps of home while searches went on for days all around their bodies.

Children can be sneaky to their own detriment.

Why every child should have a dog which will come to the parents when called and then go find the kid again.

Looks like the whole thing was a fake by the parents. These folks have been on ABC's "Wife Swap" twice, and were looking for more TV time.

Last night on CNN's "Larry King Live" the little kid dropped the dime on the parents and the whole scheme.


I wonder how much all this SAR cost.

If the parents spoke to any government official then they'll have more than the SAR bill to worry about. "False reports", etc.

Ya, I think those parents need to pay for the SAR costs. I heard on the news last night that Child Protective Services has been called.. not sure what's going to come of it.

I finally saw a clip of this, were some men on the ground are grabbing the balloon as it neared the ground. The balloon looked like it was 15-20 ft across.

How much does a 6-yr-old boy weigh, 40-50 lbs?

Did it occur to anyone that the amount of helium in that balloon wouldn't lift 40 or 50 lbs?

Intelligence and sense are not the same thing.

I hope the bill is in the mail.

Sue

Don't know about the bill but the local Sheriff just announced that charges are going to be filed in the case after interviewing the parents again. I like this Sheriff, he seems to be very empathetic yet he obviously doesn't worry about doing what he considers the right thing. Refreshing.

The father claimed that the balloon had a payload capacity of 80 pounds, kid weighs about 40 from what I've read.

Anyone seen the file footage of the Dad when the family appeared on "Wife Swap"?, lets just say he's an interesting fellow...

I was gonna toss in the fact that the parents allegedly home school their kids but it seemed like a cheap shot...;^)

P.S. forgot to add that the kids were in the custody of the Sheriff's Dept. while their parents were being interviewed. A precursor of what's to come?

Art in Fl gave us a link to one of this Cuttlefish guy's blogs and I looked .
The blog has another poem that fits here too.

http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2009/10/flight-of-falcon.html

He sums things up pretty well, but a just little bit cynical.

The radio mentioned something about the sheriff checking with the feds to see if federal charges could be filed.

I get the feeling that most people don't like this guy.

"I was gonna toss in the fact that the parents allegedly home school their kids but it seemed like a cheap shot...;^)"

Whacko parents, abusive parents and religious fanatics have been known to home school. Whacko parents, abusive parents and religious fanatics have also been known to send their kids to public schools. One does not guarantee the other.

Sue

Even assuming the worst, that this was some sort of publicity stunt, there's still no evidence that the kids are in any actual danger. The authorities are often too quick to seize people's kids these days. That's an extremely serious step, not to be taken lightly or for petty causes.