Meh. They've got the motive, the timing is impeccable as they're making the reality show at that time, the dad's reaction clearly showed signs of guilt as he fumbled and mumbled trying to find a proper answer and ends up trying to put the blame on CNN... there's just too many wrong thing that converged on that guy.

I think they pulled the stunt for the reality show they were making and probably even had the blessings of the local sheriff department (a nudge and a wink with the top dogs in the dept) but somehow it got out of hand and it got not only nationwide, but WORLDWIDE coverage.

They tried to roll with the punches and made use of it but tripped.

@geneven: if it were me, I'd ask the kid to explain what he meant on camera. "OMG They're onto us!" wouldn't be the first thing that came to my mind.