Balloon family quietly moves to Bradenton

BRADENTON - You may remember the story from last October: The world watched as we thought little Falcon Heene was trapped in a big balloon zooming across the skies of Colorado.

It all turned out to be a hoax. His parents even went to prison for orchestrating the whole thing to get on a reality television show.

Now the entire family has left their home in Fort Collins, Colo., and moved here to the Bay Area -- specifically to Bradenton, where the child's grandmother, Rae Sprow, lives.

"I want people to know they came here for the purpose of starting their life over again and trying to get a new start in life," Sprow says.

She knows the story all too well. The balloon chase, the media coverage and the public fascination with her son and grandchild who found themselves at the center of a hoax televised live coast to coast.

Sprow hopes a fresh start will lead to a quiet, happy ending for the Heene family.

"They do not want the attention. In fact, they rolled into town very quietly and we thought everything was great until this morning when the news broke that they had arrived," she said.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office took a photograph of Richard Heene. He's required to register with authorities wherever he lives, as part of his probation from the balloon boy stunt.

"That's how the news broke and now he's worried about his job. He's trying to get a start in construction," Sprow said.

Heene, his wife and their three sons hauled a trailer from Colorado. It's a temporary move to house they're sharing with Richard's parents while he works construction for a family friend.

"No, he's not working on any more balloons. That's out. But what he is working on right now is trying to find work," Sprow says.

According to Sprow, that work will not include any reality shows.

Many neighbors in the gated community say they only learned of the family's arrival when news crews began appearing.

"He's free to go wherever he wants to, so I'm sure we'll try to welcome him to our neighborhood but we'd assume do it without a lot of notoriety," resident Doug Reiff said.

A life without notoriety is exactly what the family wants, according to Sprow. She chose to speak exclusively with FOX 13 to make that message clear.

"They want to start a new life. So please, please give them a chance," she asked.

The family asked that we not take video or photographs of the children -- one reason is they will be enrolling in school here, and privacy is a concern.