The Larimer County Sheriff's office returned the balloon to Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi.
The sheriff's office says the dad asked to measure to balloon to make sure it was the same one he launched last October.
After the launch, the family told authorities their 6-year-old son was in the balloon.
Turns out he wasn't - but not before TV viewers nationwide were sucked into the story.
Dad has completed a 90-day jail sentence for his plea of falsely influencing authorities.
His wife was sentenced to 10 weekends working at nonprofits for filing a false report.
The family has agreed to pay $36,000 in restitution to agencies that responded to the hoax.
