That JM "could" be the perp in the sketch is not that big of a deal. I know a number of AA males that fit it, and a whole lot who would if they wore their facial and head hair to match. So it goes with a lot of the sketches. It's just to give an idea. Sketch alone means nothing. The DNA, which I believe LE has, is a whole other story. Personally, unless JM was a lot lighter back then, I don't think it's a match. The thing that strikes me about JM is that he is a heavy set guy, fat. That does not come out in the sketch at all. If working with an artist on his sketch,a fat face would have been one of the first things to note, not a drawn tight face. The sketch of that perp seems to be a wiry guy without extra weight along the face.
I don't get it with the cell phone. Most of us with adult college kids have the cell phone on some family plan and the parent really owns the phone, not the kid. The kid might be listed as an authorized agent too, so that issues with the phone could be dealt with by the kid when away at college, but I owned all of my college kids phones. Heck, I think I still own my adult kids phones since that is one thing that is still in my name with the family plan structure.
The phone company didn't even have their names. IT was all me. So parents could have authorized all that info to be released immediately.