Balloon Boy's Dad May Have Been Paid For Hoax!

image courtesy of ABC

Shocking, right?

Investigators searched through e-mails, phone records and financial documents from the home of Richard Heene (aka Balloon Boy's dad) yesterday, looking for evidence that Heene may have been paid by a production company to orchestrate last week's hoax.

According to THR, the sheriff's office said its findings will be forwarded to prosecutors next week to decide if Heene and his wife Mayumi should be charged with falsely reporting that their 6-year-old son drifted away in a helium balloon in an attempt to gain publicity for a reality TV show.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden added that documents show that a media outlet had agreed to pay the Heenes, and while he did not name the company, he said that it was in an industry that blurs "the line between entertainment and news."