"Balloon Boy" parents get fake bids on hoax balloon, extend auction
(CBS/AP) FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Isn't irony so...ironic?
Richard and Mayumi Heene, the former Colorado couple who lied to authorities that their son floated away in a silver helium balloon, say they are re-opening their auction for the balloon because of low and fraudulent bids.
Imagine that - fake bids for a balloon at the center of the most hyper-inflated hoax in recent memory.
Their auction website said Monday that you've now got until Friday to make a bid.
The Heenes announced the auction June 1 and suggested a bid of $1 million. Their attorney says all proceeds would benefit earthquake and tsunami recovery in Japan.
Authorities chased the UFO-shaped balloon in October 2009 but 6-year-old Falcon Heene wasn't inside as advertised. He was later found at home and authorities accused the Heenes of staging a hoax to promote possible reality TV shows.
Both parents served time in jail and the family later moved to Bradenton, Fla.