ISABELLA CO., Mich. (WNEM/Gray News) – A mother is calling for change after her young son was found dead last Tuesday, believed to be a victim of his own father in a murder-suicide.
And as she grapples with grief, anger, and what-ifs, the heartbroken mother said it didn’t have to end this way.
It’s the hardest news any parent would ever have to receive: their child was murdered at the hands of his own father. But Brandi Morey-Pols, even through tragedy, is ready to make a change so something like this doesn’t happen to the next child.
“A mom is never wrong when she knows there’s something going on with her baby,” she said.
Fighting through tears, Morey-Pols shared her heartbreaking experience of trying to report her son, Rowan Morey, missing just days before he was found dead in Chippewa Township. His life taken away at the hands of his father Michael Winchell in an apparent murder-suicide.
She and Winchell shared custody of Rowan.
“I would agonize over if he was going to come home or not. And this time he didn’t,” Morey-Pols said.
She is now calling for change after experiencing what she calls “rude” and “lackadaisical behavior” from the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department.
“I was not taken seriously for a very long time. I was treated like I was being overbearing. But now I feel like I didn’t do enough,” Morey-Pols said.
Morey-Pols said after trying to push Isabella County Sheriff workers to take the search more seriously, she was met with resistance and said she was turned away after trying to get state police involved.
“The sheriff’s department called back to the state police and I heard them. I heard the woman on the phone go, ‘This is a civil matter. Send her on her way.’ So, they sent me home without him,” Morey-Pols said.
She says she would like to see changes to Michigan Amber Alert protocols to include parental kidnappings and see mental health evaluations done for Friend of the Court cases when concerns are brought up.
She plans to keep her son’s legacy going, starting a nonprofit called Rowan’s Law, focused on changing protocols for Amber Alert and other aspects of a child’s well-being.
“His little life has to mean something to help other children because this cannot keep going on,” she said. “My worst nightmare, come true.”
Morey-Pols said she plans to take legal action because of how Rowan’s case was handled.
There will be a visitation for Rowan on Thursday and Friday in the west Michigan city of Caledonia. A celebration of life will follow.
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