FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said investigators met Friday morning to discuss the possibility of a hoax and also seek to re-interview the Heene family, who had reported Thursday afternoon that their 6-year-old son was in a helium balloon that floated away from their home.

The report caused a frenzied rescue effort before the child was found hiding in the garage roughly four hours later.

"We spent a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of resources in this and if there's criminal conduct associated with it, even though it's minor, we do need to send a message and we need to get to the bottom of it and assure the public that we're doing our job in the best (way) that we can," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said during a noon news conference Friday. "If it turns out to be a hoax, there's some criminality here, we would seek restitution by whatever means possible."

Alderden said his investigators believe there was no hoax, but investigators will seek a new interview with the family on Saturday to clarify a statement made by 6-year-old Falcon Heene.

"We believe at this time that it was a real event. Certainly people are free to speculate," Alderden said.

Questions arose after the Heene family was interviewed on CNN Thursday night. When Richard Heene asked his son why he was hiding, Falcon replied, "You had said that we did this for the show."

The family appeared on two episodes of the ABC reality TV show "Wife Swap" earlier this year.

The boy's father, Richard Heene, called accusations that the ordeal was a publicity stunt "extremely pathetic."

The sheriff acknowledged that Falcon's comments had clearly "raised everybody's level of skepticism, but that investigators had no reason to believe the balloon odyssey was a hoax.

"Certainly, that statement that was made last night on the interview raises the questions again," Alderden said. "It seems much more likely that the boy was frightened because he saw that he was responsible for this device becoming untethered."

Social Services Contacted

Alderden also said because of the magnitude of the event, he said his office had contacted child protective services and asked them not to contact the family until his investigators had a chance to interview the Heene family again this weekend.

Maj. Justin Smith of the sheriff's office said social workers were asked to get involved because of concerns raised about the family's storm chasing work. He said authorities want to make sure the children are in a healthy environment.

Sheriff Says Heene Story Believable, Doesn't Believe Hoax

While the balloon was in the air, Alderden said authorities contacted an expert who told them the helium balloon was capable of lifting the boy into the air.

"We did contact a professor at CSU with the expertise to determine the payload and lift (of the balloon) and he informed us that a balloon of that size would handle a payload of 80 pounds. The boy weighed 37 pounds, so it remains conceivable that a boy of that size could have been in the balloon," Alderden said.

"We were convinced (Thursday) after talking to parents and having investigators on scene during the duration of event, that the parents were being honest. Their verbal, body language and emotions were consistent with events taking place, believing their child was in the aircraft. Our people didn't think this was being faked."

He said that once Falcon came out of hiding, the parents allowed investigators to question Falcon alone, and they did not appear to have anything to hide.

If It Is Hoax, Family Faces False Reporting Charges

"If turns out to be a hoax, the only thing we really have is false reporting which is a class three misdemeanor," Alderden said.

The misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $750 fine. The minimum punishment: a $50 fine.

On Thursday night, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said it wouldn't charge the Heene family for the cost of the search and rescue operation.

"We don't want somebody in a situation, in an emergency, thinking about payment before safety. So, we'll get our resources out and we'd rather be there and not be needed than be in a situation where somebody waited or we waited because of finances and someone's life was unnecessarily put in jeopardy," said Maj. Justin Smith with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

Volunteers who helped searched for the boy said they don't feel it was a waste of time or resources and that it was the best ending anyone could hope for.

Alderden said he didn't have an estimate of how much the search for the boy cost.

The Colorado Army National Guard scrambled an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter and a Black Hawk UH-60 to try to rescue the boy, possibly by lowering someone to the balloon. The helicopter flights alone cost about $14,500.

Capt. Troy Brown said the Black Hawk helicopter was in the air for nearly three hours, and the Kiowa helicopter was airborne for about one hour. The Black Hawk costs about $4,600 an hour to fly, and the Kiowa is $700 an hour, Brown said.