The "swapped wife" who lived with the Balloon Boy's family as part of a TV reality program described dad Richard Heene as a mad scientist with a short fuse. Sheree Silver said Heene screamed at her, and son Bradford said: "My dad can really yell, can't he?" Silver doesn't believe Heene was capable of physical abuse, People reports. Colorado police, however, revealed that they tried to convince Heene's wife to move into a shelter after a a domestic violence call in February.
Heene's mom, meanwhile, said she wants to believe her son's balloon story, and is worried about her grandchildren. "Our major concern is the children's welfare, and we will do whatever we need to do for them," she told the New York Daily News. "We are praying for them." Heene and his wife will be hit with charges, perhaps next week, for faking the Balloon Boy stunt involving their son Falcon, said police.
(More Falcon Heene stories.)