What Happened to Rowan Morey Is Every Parent’s Worst Fear — and It Could’ve Been Prevented

There’s something about a mother’s intuition that doesn’t let go. Brandi Morey-Pols felt something was wrong the moment her 6-year-old son, Rowan Morey, wasn’t returned to her on time by his father.

His mother said she called, pushed, and begged for help. By the time she got the help she had begged for, however, it was too late.

As investigators searched for answers, what happened to Rowan Morey quickly became a question no family ever wants to face — and one that still haunts everyone involved.

This is the kind of tragedy that leaves behind far more than grief. It raises the kind of questions no family should have to ask — and no system should have to answer after the fact.

Rowan was found dead on Aug. 21, 2024, alongside his father, Michael S. Winchell, inside a locked camper on Michael’s rural property in Chippewa Township. Both died from gunshot wounds in what investigators believe was a murder-suicide.

Law enforcement would later tell Brandi that based on the evidence, Rowan was likely killed before police were ever officially involved in the case. But that explanation has not eased her heartbreak — or silenced public concern.

Brandi, who shared custody of Rowan with Michael, said she knew something was wrong when her son wasn’t returned on the morning of Aug. 19, 2024. According to MLive, she last saw Rowan on August 12. She filed a missing person report on August 19, after failed attempts to reach Michael by phone and in person.

When Brandi and her husband visited the Isabella County Sheriff’s Office in the early hours of August 20, they say they were met with indifference. “I was not taken seriously for a very long time,” she told KBTX. “I was treated like I was being overbearing. But now I feel like I didn’t do enough.”

She also said she overheard law enforcement brushing her off when she tried to involve Michigan State Police. “The sheriff’s department called back to the state police and I heard them,” she said. “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.”

Brandi filed for an emergency custody change that same day. It was denied.

She believes Rowan’s death could have been prevented — if police had acted sooner, if the court had listened, and if the system had seen the red flags she says she raised long before things turned fatal.

While Brandi’s concerns are being heard loudly in the court of public opinion, law enforcement has pushed back on the idea that faster action would have changed the outcome.

In a 24-minute phone call obtained by MLive, Sheriff Michael Main explained to Brandi and her husband that investigators believe Rowan was likely killed early on the morning of August 19 — around the same time Brandi first became worried. According to Sheriff Main, a factory reset was performed on an iPad found in the camper at 7:52 a.m. that day, and investigators believe the murder-suicide occurred shortly after.

“The working theory is the crime probably occurred shortly thereafter,” Sheriff Main said, adding that Rowan was likely asleep when he was shot. Deputies visited Michael’s property multiple times between August 19 and August 21 but were legally limited in their ability to search the home or camper without a warrant.

They knocked, peered through windows, and followed leads. The camper where Rowan’s body was eventually found was located deeper into the property, down a path behind tall brush.

By the time they entered the camper — after a family member broke a window to check on Michael — Rowan was already gone.

Whether this timeline clears law enforcement of responsibility is still being debated. The family says the department’s slow and “rude” response cost valuable time. Law enforcement insists that all evidence points to a tragedy that had already happened before the first report was ever filed.

Since her son’s death, Brandi has spoken openly about her grief — and her resolve to do something with it. “His little life has to mean something to help other children,” she told KBTX. “Because this cannot keep going on.”

She planned to launch a nonprofit called Rowan’s Law, focused on advocating for changes to Michigan’s Amber Alert protocols — including more flexibility for parental custody cases — and mental health screenings in family court when custody concerns are raised.

Rowan, who would have turned seven just days after his death, was remembered in his obituary as a child who “had a unique ability to find humor in the simplest of things.” He loved Pokémon. He liked to make people laugh. He had just started developing an interest in golf.

What happened to Rowan exposed painful cracks in the system meant to protect children. While it’s still unclear whether faster intervention could have changed the outcome, one thing is certain: his story has moved people — and his mother won’t stop telling it.