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'Balloon boy' family returns home ahead of news conference

FORT COLLINS - The family under scrutiny after an experimental balloon drifted across the state earlier this week - reportedly carrying the family's 6-year-old boy - returned home early Sunday morning after spending the night elsewhere.Earlier: Sheriff didn't think runaway balloon was hoax

The family left its home Saturday night after the Larimer County Sheriff's Office got a search warrant for the Heene's home after a day of questioning the family at the sheriff's office.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden says he will hold a news conference Sunday morning to talk more about interviews with Richard and Mayumi Heene, the parents whose son was believed to be aboard the wayward balloon.

Late Saturday night investigators executed the search warrant at the Heene home.

The sheriff's office says it anticipates charges will be filed against one or both of the parents. The Heenes were not under arrest.

"What those charges may be, as stated yesterday, what we were looking at, is a class three misdemeanor - hardly seems serious enough given the circumstances," Alderden said.

The Sheriff did not spell the charges out, or explain why the charges will be filed now. Alderden says he is also consulting with federal agencies about the case.

Richard and Mayumi Heene voluntarily spoke to Larimer County Sheriff Investigators for a second time on Saturday.

The sheriff's office says they've made significant progress into the investigation.

The Heene family is at the center of the saga after news crews from around the globe and law enforcement from around the state believed their son, Falcon Heene, was flying across the state in a helium-filled, saucer-shaped balloon Thursday. The boy turned up hours later hiding in the family's attic above their garage.

Early Saturday Richard Heene told reporters he would have a "big announcement" for the media. He later came out of his house and simply told reporters to put questions for him in a box and that he would hold a news conference later in the day. The news conference never happened.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office will hold their news conference Sunday at 11 a.m. />

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