Merlin Friel says six medals left unclaimed for 13 years in an Edmonton framing shop belonged to his grandfather, Jim Friel. (CBC)A man from Ardrossan, Alta., said Tuesday that his late grandfather is the mystery soldier who owned six Second World War medals that sat unclaimed for 13 years in an Edmonton framing shop.

Merlin Friel said the man pictured in a black and white photo that was mounted in a shadow-box frame with the medals is Jim Friel, who died in 1972.

"It was just goosebumpy. It was very cool. I just pointed and said, 'That's my grandpa, right there,'" Friel said Tuesday about seeing the photo in a television news report about the medals the night before.

Friel said his grandfather served in the artillery and worked for Strathcona County, just east of Edmonton, for 25 years.

Merlin Friel is one of a number of people who came forward to identify the soldier after military officials went public with the story Monday.

"People have come forward who have stated that they either know this individual or they are related to this individual," said Jason Broadbent, public affairs officer for the Canadian military's Land Force Western Area.

It's what the Canadian Forces were hoping for when the appeal went out on Monday to find the veteran who served in Italy, Germany and France during the Second World War and earned the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal.

Six service medals thought to have belonged to this man were left unclaimed for 13 years at an Edmonton framing shop. (Department of National Defence)A manager at Folkgraphis Frames handed over the medals two weeks ago to Master Cpl. Larry Young, who was picking up an order at the store.

The claims don't all point to the same individual, so the military has to do some investigating before the medals can be returned to the soldier, or his family.

"Due to the number of people who have come forward, we do have to do a thorough confirmation to ensure these people are who they say they are and ensure that these medals go to the correct individual," Broadbent said.

On Monday, the military showed the media a copy of an invoice showing Markiw Imports to be the company that contracted the work to Folkgraphis in 1995.

Merlin Friel has a connection to Markiw Imports.

Friel's wife, who was then known as Fran Markiw, was the owner of the company in 1995.

Fran Friel said she took the medals in to be framed while she was helping Merlin Friel's grandmother move in to a nursing home. The woman was keeping the medals in a shoebox. "I just said, 'They're too special to have in a box. We should take them in and get them framed,'" Fran Friel said Tuesday.

"So I took them in to be framed. I actually wanted to give them back to Nan as kind of a gift to hang in ... her little old-age retirement apartment," she said.

When Fran Friel returned four months later to pick up the medals, they were missing. Folkgraphis has since changed owners, and the new owner discovered the frame with the medals and the picture of a soldier.

Merlin Friel said he called military officials in Edmonton as soon as he saw the story about the medals on TV, but on Tuesday morning, he had yet to hear back from anyone.

The process of trying to narrow down which claim is the correct one was expected to get underway Tuesday afternoon, after Remembrance Day ceremonies were over, the military's Broadbent said.