Every mother’s worst nightmare became Brandi Morey Pols’ reality last week.

After years of trying desperately to get authorities to believe her when she reported that her son’s father was dangerous, Morey Pols experienced the unthinkable: Rowan Milford Morey’s father, Michael Winchell, killed the boy before turning the gun on himself.

Now, as she readies herself for Rowan’s viewing and funeral, she made a vow to do whatever she can to change the system and stop another mother from experiencing the pain of a child’s murder.

After a weeklong visitation that started Aug. 12, Winchell, who lived in a home on East River Road in Isabella County, didn’t return Rowan to his mother as scheduled a week later.

It’s something he’s done in the past – a way to try to get under her skin and hurt her.

Winchell also shaved Rowan’s head against his will to upset his mother, who had been fighting for sole custody of Rowan in August 2019.

Indeed, the custody file in Isabella County Trial Court is inches thick, with entries for every hearing and other action that amounted to 261 entries in the Michigan Courts electronic filing system.

Not only did Winchell try to upset her, Morey Pols said, he also stalked her, and refused to let Isabella County authorities into his home after she told them Winchell didn’t property feed Rowan, making him subsist on toast.

When he was ordered to let authorities in to perform a wellness check, he had ample time to stock his refrigerator, according to Morey Pols.

When Morey Pols’ attorney filed an emergency motion Aug. 20 to give her sole temporary custody of Rowan in Isabella County Trial Court, Chief Judge Eric Janes denied the motion, instead setting a hearing for Sept. 5.

Speaking Wednesday morning in a raspy voice from crying for nearly a week, Morey Pols said something has to be done to protect children who are pawns in custody battles with parents who wish to harm them.

She isn’t alone.

Morey Pols, after getting through her 6-year-old son’s visitation and funeral this week, plans to meet with Michigan legislators next week who want to discuss with her what went wrong and how it can be fixed so it doesn’t happen to another child.

Morey Pols lives in Caledonia in Kent County, but State Rep. Jerry Neyer (R-Shepherd), whose district includes parts of Isabella and Gratiot counties, was appalled by Rowan’s murder and hopes to help in the fight give police more power to locate children who are not returned to the custodial parent on time.

“This tragedy is incomprehensible,” Neyer said by email Wednesday morning. “My prayers go out to Ms. Morey Pols and her entire family as this unthinkable situation is something in a parent’s worst nightmare.

“I will be looking at the current law to see how this could have been avoided and I will be working with our local agencies to see what steps we could take in the future to help prevent this type of event from affecting another family.”

While Isabella County Sheriff’s officials repeatedly went to Winchell’s home in search of him and Rowan, because custody cases are civil, they did not have the authority to break into the house to search, nor could they issue an Amber Alert – something Morey Pols wants changed to include parents who don’t return their children as scheduled in custody agreements.

At one point in her fight to get sole custody of Rowan, Morey Pols missed a court date because she was in treatment for breast cancer.

Rowan was showing signs of self-harm recently, and Morey Pols put him in Christian counseling through her church to try to help.

But she feels betrayed by a system that’s designed to protect children and allowed what she believes was an unstable man to have visitation with his son.

She also believes Winchell wanted her to go to his property to find Rowan so he could kill her too, and thinks both were still alive Aug. 20 when she went to her attorney’s office to file the emergency motion.

While Morey Pols is grateful for the overwhelming support and prayers offered by friends, family and strangers, she isn’t likely to let go of her anger at what she calls a flawed system that did not take her concerns seriously, instead berating her for her attempts to get authorities to listen to her and stop Winchell from harming her son.

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A now 5-year-old girl who was kidnapped by her mother and stepfather more than a year ago could be in the Harrison area, and authorities in Missouri and Clare County continue to search for the three.

Elizabeth Faith Askew and Devon Askew were named in an arrest warrant for child abduction Oct. 25, 2023 in Macon County after allegedly kidnapping Priscilla Lozuaway, who was 4 at the time.

Police in Macon County believe the Askews relocated to Michigan, possibly the Harrison area in the central part of the state, according to reports in the Moberly Monitor Index in Moberly, Mo.

Clare County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Dave Aldrich said Wednesday that searches of multiple homes for the three have been unsuccessful.

Aldrich confirmed that the Macon County Sheriff’s Office reached out for assistance, and that officers have investigated calls for possible sightings but could not confirm any.

In a probable cause statement and warrant request in Macon County Circuit Court, police said Priscilla’s father, Christopher Lozuaway, had not seen his daughter since June 1, 2023, and Macon County Sheriff’s deputies were unable to locate the three during a child wellness check at the Askew’s home in Atlanta, Mo., according to court records.

Police questioned Elizabeth Askew’s mother, who reportedly gave vague answers and told officers the three left the state on vacation, according to court documents.

Police questioned others, who said the Askews left the state with Priscilla, and left their phones behind, and nobody could tell them where they went, according to court documents.

Faith Askew failed to show up for a hearing Oct. 2, 2023, but her attorney was there and asked to be removed from the case without giving a reason, according to the probable cause statement.

A judge issued a show cause order but authorities could not located the Askews, who also failed to appear at another hearing Oct. 17 because police could not locate them, according to court records.

Authorities also said in court documents that there had been an ongoing custody battle between Lozuaway and Elizabeth Askew.

Macon County Prosecutor Joshua Meisner filed child abduction charges against Elizabeth Askew Oct. 25, 2023.

Elizabeth Askew failed to appear in court multiple times after Priscilla disappeared, and her mother, Constant Faith Christophel, pleaded the Fifth Amendment in court, refusing to answer questions about the child’s welfare, according to the Moberly Monitor Index.

That resulted in a judge giving Christopher Lozuaway sole custody of Priscilla, according to the Moberly Monitor Index, which reported that Elizabeth Askew’s parents sold their family farm in Missouri and moved to Harrison.

Christopher Lozuaway is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to Priscilla being located.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Macon County Sheriff’s Office at (660) 385‐2062, or the Clare County Sheriff’s Office at (989) 539-7166.

(Megan Pullyard of the Moberly Monitor Index contributed to this report).