AP Photo/KMGH-TV
In this image rendered from video and released by KMGH-TV in Denver, a balloon is seen moments after landing in Colorado, near Fort Collins Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. No one was found in the balloon.FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A silver, UFO-like helium balloon that gripped the country's attention when a couple said their son had floated away in it is back in Colorado after an online auction.
An attorney for Richard and Mayumi Heene (HEE'-nee) told the Coloradoan in Fort Collins Thursday that an Aurora man paid $2,502 earlier this month for the balloon. Perry Rausher says the man didn't want his name released because he plans a news conference.
Rausher says he deducted $60 from the sale for fees and the rest will go to Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief.
The Heenes, who moved to Florida from Colorado after the incident, were charged when it was discovered their 6-year-old son was never on the balloon. They had to pay $36,000 in restitution to authorities who responded to the 2009 incident.