Welcome to WS
@Silver Spring. I'm not sure it's confirmed that the 10/27 and 1/5 search warrants are the same. Unless it comes from LE, we really don't know. Sometimes a warrant is required for the operating system and a different warrant for the App, or the owner versus the 3rd party developer.
Electronics have become very complicated -- it's said there are more mobile phones than people in the US. The "third party doctrine" holds that individuals have a reduced
expectation of privacy when it relates to information knowingly shared with a third party, including cell phone companies. Therefore, such information is not protected by the Fourth Amendment and police don't need a warrant to legally access it (i.e., generally, regular call history produced by phone co with just a subpoena). But here's the rub, this doctrine was established through the US Supreme Court (1979) before cell phones existed!
Currently, if the phone App has a location tracking component (which most do), it's pretty much guaranteed a search warrant will be required. You are also correct that search warrants require probable cause and the exceptions generally take time, and yet another judge to sign off. MOO
ETA: JD's family are so fortunate that LE recovered his body quickly and they know that their loved one is deceased and properly put to rest. For example, we have so many cases on WS where individuals have vanished, only to later learn they'd crashed their vehicle and the best that these families have been able to obtain is the location of the last cell phone ping. They have no idea about their location because any GPS data/location tracking via phone App requires a search warrant. It's not illegal for an adult to disappear voluntarily, go off-grid, and cease contact. Once again, there's no evidence the missing is a victim of a crime and it can take a year or longer to get a warrant or a provider to cooperate. I recall CBD saying that Apple wouldn't even talk to her and from my experience, she wouldn't be the first to make this claim. MOO