LAWRENCE - It took time, patience and help from investigators, but Lawrence grandfather Fred Pietrowski has finally solved a mystery.

The rightful owners of a pile of stock and bond paperwork Pietrowski found stuffed in an old filing cabinet have been located, courtesy of state Treasurer Timothy Cahill's office. Investigators working in Cahill's office are now reuniting the paperwork with the owners or their heirs.

But, investigators believe the stock and bond certificates speculated at first to be worth $100,000 or more, have little to no worth.

"We were able to determine that the certificates, for the most part, are valueless as they had been subsequently re-issued or redeemed," said Alison Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cahill.

Pietrowski, 66, was not upset to learn most of his find was worthless.

"The rightful people now have them," he said. "That's all I wanted out of this."

Pietrowski, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired computer builder, enjoys shopping at yard sales and flea markets with his wife, Linda. He purchased the filing cabinet for $2 last summer. In December, he found stock and bond certificates, with an apparent value of $100,000, stuffed in the back of the cabinet.

He vowed "to do the right thing" and set out to find the rightful owners of the money. The Eagle-Tribune first reported on the find and the story later attracted national attention on television, Web sites and blogs.

Pietrowski started receiving dozens of e-mails, his kids got calls and he was contacted by private investigators, forensic genealogists, and all kinds of folks and organizations looking for money.

He was relieved when investigators from Cahill's abandoned property division stepped in to help.

"It was great, because I kept on hitting a wall," said Pietrowski of his own attempts to find the owners.

The paperwork and certificates had the names of Marion McPhee of Leominster, Edith Reimer of Worcester, Jack Crowley of Leominster, and Patrick and Patricia Sullivan, whose addresses were not specified. The stock certificates were issued by James River Corp. of Virginia, BellSouth Corp. of Georgia and AT&T of New York.

Here are the results of the abandoned property investigation:

* Crowley now lives out of state, but investigators spoke with a daughter. Research showed replacement certificates were issued years ago.

* Patrick Sullivan is deceased, so his wife was contacted. His stock underwent a number of splits and mergers "and we have no way of knowing whether the stock was kept active," Mitchell said. The stock certificates were mailed to Sullivan's wife.

* Reimer was located and bond certificates were mailed to her. McPhee is deceased, but investigators located her grandson and are contacting him, according to Mitchell.

The journey wasn't completely without worth to Pietrowski. The abandoned property division had an unclaimed, $110 refund check for him. He also pocketed $6 in change he found in an envelope marked "Birthday Fund" in the cabinet.

And, he said, the experience hasn't jaded him from shopping at yard sales and flea markets. At $2, the filing cabinet was still a great deal.

"Anything left in it was just a bonus," Pietrowski said.

Staff reporter Jill Harmacinski can be reached at (978) 946-2209 or by email at JHarmacinski@eagletribune.com.