In what became a devastating conclusion to a mother's desperate pleas, six-year-old Rowan Milford Morey was found deceased on August 21, 2024, in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The young boy's life was tragically cut short in what authorities have described as a murder-suicide perpetrated by his biological father.
The heartbreaking events began to unfold when Rowan was not returned to his mother, Brandi Morey-Pols, at the scheduled time on August 19th, following a week-long visit with his
father, Michael Steven Winchell, 48. This prompted Morey-Pols to contact the Isabella County Sheriff's Office to report her son overdue. She had reportedly expressed concerns about her son's safety with his father in the past.
Despite her efforts and requests for wellness checks, it was not until two days later that the grim discovery was made. Family members, unable to make contact with Winchell, went to his property on East River Road in Chippewa Township. There, they found both Rowan and his father deceased inside a camper. The investigation concluded that Winchell had shot and killed his son before taking his own life.
In the wake of this tragedy, Rowan's mother has become a vocal advocate for changes in custody laws, hoping to prevent similar situations from happening to other families. She has initiated efforts to establish a non-profit organization and is pushing for legislation that would grant law enforcement more authority to intervene in cases where a child is not returned by a non-custodial parent as scheduled. Her aim is to create a 'Rowan's Alert' to address parental kidnappings and to ensure that the concerns of worried parents are taken more seriously by authorities.
