Man discovers $127,000 in desk bought at auction

HOLBROOK, MA -- A man who bought a secretary desk at auction in Holbrook found much more than he'd imagined in his $40 purchase -- an envelope with $127,000 in matured bonds.

Phil LeClerc, of Weymouth, MA, was looking for a missing knob when he stumbled upon the envelope filled with bonds.

LeClerc decided to try to return the bonds to the desk's original owners. They turned out to be a family selling off furniture in order to care for their 94-year-old father who was moving into an assisted living facility. The money, for them, couldn't have come back at a better time.

The auction house owner tells ABC News the family had been looking for the bonds for years.

LeClerc said that he was happy the bonds could be returned to their rightful owner.

"It was a great find," he said. "It was even better after hearing the story

of the family."