Stop That Balloon

So today CNN was covering a story about a little boy of CO assumed to be in a helium balloon, which was an experiment his dad had started. He allegedly built the balloon to show how the family would feel had a hurricane hit and how to maintain their safety.
The balloon was said to have soared thousands of feet in the air and officials including ambulance and fire fighters had surrounded the area. They wanted to shoot the balloon down to pierce the aluminum it was made with but for the safety of the little boy decided against it. They later came back to say the little boy may have fallen out earlier in the "flight" because they were unable to tell if anyone was on board. The speed of the balloon was also accelerating pretty swiftly.
Eventually the balloon was brought down to find that no one was inside the balloon. This was a great observation but the boy was still missing. Where did the little boy go?!?! The officials searched the streets high and low and found the boy in an attic in a cardboard box at home. To me it seems he may have set the balloon off and had gotten scared so he hid. My question is where was the supervision and why did the 6 year old have open access to the experimental balloon. Who initially said the little boy was in there? Seems a bit fishy to me...how about you?!?!
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