13 things about Archer, Florida’s Richard Heene

Richard Alan Heene Jr. is a resident of Archer, Florida, United States. Aside from Florida, he has lived in other states in the country including Virginia, California, Colorado and New York.

BIOGRAPHY

Heene is an American scientist, inventor and storm chaser born and raised in Virginia. His wife Mayumi Iizuka Heene was born in Gifu City, Gifu, Japan.

When Richard was young, his biological father was mostly absent. Richard was raised by his abusive mother and stepfather.

Richard has two siblings including a sister named Diana Fields. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He and his first wife Patricia Heene divorced before he met Mayumi.
2. He and Mayumi have three sons together namely Bradford Heene, Ryo Heene and Falcon Heene.
3. In 1976, he started building as a skilled general contractor.
4. In 1979, he started doing contractor work and his interest in meteorology started when he witnessed how a tornado moved a roof while he was working in construction.
5. In 1985, he owned a contracting business.
6. In 1995, he published a book of parody titled “Offensive Driving” under the imprint Dick Weenie.
7. In 1989, he obtained his license as a general contractor in California.
8. In 1997, he met Mayumi at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, an acting school in Hollywood, California.
9. In 2008, he and Mayumi appeared in the ABC show “Wife Swap” with their three sons, he was the lead author of the National Weather Digest article “Electromagnetic Fields Recorded in Mesocyclones” and he flew into Hurricane Wilma with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.
10. In 2010, he, Mayumi and their three sons moved from Colorado to Florida.
11. In 2019, he, Mayumi and their three sons moved from Florida to New York.
12. In 2020, he, Mayumi and their three sons moved back to Florida and 43rd Colorado governor Jared Polis pardoned him and his wife.
13. On September 10, 2024, he turned 63.

TIMELINE

Richard owns Craftsman Tiny Homes. Based in Archer, the business specializes in building affordable, custom tiny homes with a focus on craftsmanship.

1990s

• In August 1997, he met Mayumi while he was pursuing a career as a comedian and she was playing guitar in a rock band.
• On October 12, 1997, he married Mayumi in Nevada, USA. 

2000s

• He, Mayumi and their three sons appeared in a “Wife Swap” episode aired on ABC on October 3, 2008 along with Karen Martel, her husband Jay Martel and their children Max Martel and Dean Martel. In the episode, he yelled at Karen, “You’re a man’s nightmare! I’m so glad my wife was born in Japan.” He, Mayumi and their three sons were voted by the viewers to appeared again in “Wife Swap” for its 100th episode on March 13, 2009 along with psychic Sheree Silver, her husband Sam Castiglia and their two sons.
• In April 2009, he and Mayumi signed an option with “Wife Swap” producers to pitch a reality show about homemade science experiments including a balloon made in the shape of a flying sauce.
• On October 15, 2009, he, Mayumi and their children were involved in a controversy due to their homemade helium-filled gas balloon shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer they released into the atmosphere above Fort Collins, Colorado. 
• On October 20, 2009, he and Mayumi took a lie detector test but the results were never published.
• On November 13, 2009, he pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant.
• On December 23, 2009, Larimer County District Court Judge Stephen Schapanski in Colorado sentenced him to 90 days in jail and 100 hours of community service and ordered him to write a formal apology to the agencies that searched for Falcon. Mayumi was ordered to serve a Saturday and Sunday work detail for 20 days

2010s

• On January 7, 2010, he appeared again on “Larry King Live” and told Larry King that he only pleaded guilty to prevent Mayumi from being deported to Japan.
• On January 11, 2010, he started serving 90 days in prison and after completing the sentence in April 2010, a judge ordered him to pay $36,000 in restitution.
• He, Mayumi and their three sons left Fort Collins on August 30, 2010 and moved to Spring Hill, Florida on September 2, 2010.
• In July 2011, he auctioned the balloon that made headlines in 2009 and a businessman from Aurora, Colorado named Mike Fruitman bought it for $2,502.
• In December 2012, he told the Broward Palm Beach New Times that when he was young, he and his siblings moved a lot and he went to 13 different schools.
• On September 20, 2015, he, Mayumi and their three sons were interviewed on the NBC show “Today” by Erica Hill. He told Hill that he pleaded guilty in 2009 because the threat of deportation of Mayumi was imminent. He explained, “When that came on the table, I had to take the deal that they proposed to me so my attorney said ‘Richard, it’s only a 90-day stay’ and that was a long time for me but it really went by quickly.”
• He wrote and directed the musical “American Chilly,” which premiered at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida on October 28, 2015. It starred the Heene Boyz along with Greg Gebauer, Johnny Vegaz, Dean Pskowski, Jennifer Pskowski and Madeline Smyth.
• In March 2019, he established Epicure Homes in Archer.
• In May 2019, he moved from Florida to a camper trailer in New Hampton, New York with Mayumi and their three sons.
• In September 2019, a version of the balloon controversy in 2009 that involved him and his family was released by 5280 Magazine senior writer Robert Sanchez.
• In October 2019, he told ABC News that he was a victim of character assassination and shared, “I’ve lost a lot of opportunities. I’ve had people contact me about things I invented and the deal went south because they find out who I am. The thing that gets me is the media never tells my side of the story.”

2020s

• On May 30, 2020, he moved from New Hampton to Archer with Mayumi and their three sons.
• On December 23, 2020, he and Mayumi were among the 18 people pardoned by 43rd Colorado governor Jared Polis. In a statement, the governor said, “Richard and Mayumi have paid the price in the eyes of the public, served their sentences and it’s time for all of us to move on.”
• On July 15, 2025, Netflix released “Trainwreck: Balloon Boy”, a documentary about his family.