CADILLAC — A mother whose son was killed at the hands of his father in a murder-suicide is hoping to make changes to the state’s Amber alert system.
Six-year-old Rowan Morley was killed in a murder-suicide in Isabella County in August of last year.
Rowan’s mom, Brandi Morey-Pols, said she was waiting for Rowan to return home from a weekend visit with his dad, but he had not returned.
She said she turned to the police for help, but that help never came, and Rowan was shot in the back of the head and killed by his father.
“There are five different departments of officers in Mount Pleasant. I couldn’t get a one to help; their hands were tied in that. So, we’re on track. We’ll open that up,” said Morey-Pols.
Since then, Morey-Pol’s mission has been to make a difference for others who are missing and in danger, especially for our most vulnerable.
“The whole 52 hours that my little Rowan was missing, we were told by police over and over again, it’s almost impossible.
Morey-Pols said current laws put limitations on when an Amber alert is issued, meaning a judge has to sign off on it before an alert is activated.
“It’s going to bypass any judges and go straight to the Michigan State Police, and it will include parental kidnap, children with special needs, and runaways,” said Morey-Pols.
She said she was in the middle of trying to get full custody when Rowan’s father did not return him after a visitation, and law enforcement’s hands were tied.
He was discovered three days later in a trailer in Isabella County.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world and the worst possible outcome happened to us and Rowan. I don’t want that for another family ever again,” said Morey-Pols.
She created the Rowan Project, an organization trying to spread awareness about domestic violence issues.
They are working on starting up a domestic violence registry, similar to a sex offender registry, to warn potential future domestic abuse victims.
“Do you realize that it’s a felony if you hurt livestock or pets intentionally, but a person in their own home or in a relationship with someone they trust, if they get hurt, you get three shots at it. It’s a misdemeanor until you’ve done it three times,” said Morey-Pols.
The family of another high-profile murder case whose daughter, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was murdered while on a cross-country trip, at the hands of her fiancé, has reached out to not only give Morey-Pols emotional support but also advice.
“Our focus is to help organizations and advocate for victims of domestic violence through prevention and education tactics,” said Gabby’s stepdad, Jim Schmidt.
“So, we do a lot of that now. We do a lot of prevention and education, talking about red flags, you know, signs that we missed,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt said this past Wednesday was the four-year anniversary of her murder.
He said the Petitio Foundation has been working tirelessly to change laws to help locate missing persons more easily and spread awareness about the signs of domestic abuse.
“The gas lighting and looking back on it, the signs were there. We just didn’t know, you know, that they were red flags at the time, but now we do,” said Schmidt.
Morey-Pols said Rowan’s bill is in the house and is expected to be voted on as early as next week.