Brandi Morey-Pols and Michael S. Winchell shared a custody of their six-year-old son, Rowan M. Morey.

The boy would spend time with both his mother and father, but when Winchell failed to returned the boy home to his mom after a visit on Monday, Aug. 19, Morey-Pols knew something was very wrong and alerted the authorities who checked Winchell’s home. Neither he nor the boy were there so they started an extensive search.

Sadly, two days after the missing report was filed, Winchell and young Rowan were found dead inside a camper on East River Road in Chippewa Township.

Police suspects murder-suicide. Winchell killed his own son before taking his own life.

“I would always agonize over if he was going to come home or not; and this time, he didn’t,” devastated Morey-Pols said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. She recalled moments when her son’s father would shave the boy’s head if she did anything to upset him.

Disturbed by Winchell’s behavior, Morey-Pols spoke to Child Protective Services repeatedly, but said she would often be turned away.

“A mom is never wrong when she knows there’s something going on with her baby,” Morey-Pols said. “I knew. They just didn’t help.”

Rowan’s grandfather, Jerry Pols, said that the family court system has failed them for years concerning Winchell and his treatment of Rowan.

“We are not dealing with minor cracks in the system, but gaping holes that allow children like Rowan to fall through,” Pols said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Often with catastrophic consequences.”

We are sorry for the loss of Rowan, may he rest in peace.