Woman finds thousands in bearer bonds in attic

(WJBK) - A woman finds a treasure of sorts in the attic of a Highland Park home.

She stumbled on bearer bonds worth tens-of-thousands of dollars - but she doesn't know what to do with it.

Two months ago Briana Horger was hired to clean a house in Highland Park when she thought she stumbled upon a piece of history and nothing more.

"She just wanted everything removed, less trash when the demo comes," Horger said. "It just looked interesting. We set it to the side. When we asked her about it she really wasn't interested about anything in the house. She said 'Have fun with it.'"

And here's the fun part - she now holds bearer bonds issued by Highland Park schools back in 1968 ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 each - and she has a few.

"Dozens, she said. “Right here is $60,000 worth."

And unlike regular bonds which are attached to someone's Social Security number, bearer bonds just need to be in your possession.

"Whoever holds the bond is entitled to what the bond is worth and the interest that comes off it, "said Bradley Vey, Foguth Financial Group.

The real question is how much money are we talking about.  The bonds were issued in 1969, so you have to think about what $5,000 was worth back then versus the inflation of $5,000 today.

"It's like finding a buried treasure but not having a key for the lock," Vey said. "Because we don't know exactly how much each was issued for, how much interest was paid and how much was collected. If they were called. And how long they were paying interest for. We really don't know. But she could have a treasure on her hands."

A treasure that would go a long way for this mom of three, all under 5 years old.

"Potentially giving a new life for me and my kids and giving back to the organizations that have helped me," she said.

She has plans to meet with a financial planner ASAP.

There are potentially billions of these bearer bonds out there, but most people have never heard of them because they were discontinued 35 years ago.

Typically however they are  found within the walls of a bank that issued the bonds - not in a random attic of a Highland Park home that is about to be torn down.