Basket May Have Fallen Off Balloon, Boy Missing

A homemade hot air balloon thought to have a 6-year-old Colorado boy trapped inside has landed -- but the boy was nowhere to be found.

News reports indicate local authorities are frantically searching for the child on the ground, including in the neighborhood where he lives. One local Sheriff's official told the AP the boy climbed into a box that was attached to the balloon, but that basket was not found when it crashed.

The AP reports the balloon was owned by the boy's parents and tethered behind the family's home. The boy and his brother were reportedly playing in the yard where the balloon was tethered when the older child says he saw his younger brother go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away. The aircraft landed roughly two hours later -- but he was not inside.

The boy, reportedly identified as 6-year-old Falcon Heene, starred on ABC's "Wife Swap" with his family. His father Richard is a storm chaser who, along with his family, is said to "live on the edge."

 

<big>Balloon Boy and the Heene Family</big>