Exactly my thoughts - what would a water soaked cell phone have that LE would be so excited about. All electronic components would be useless for recovery of data/GPS location atthat point. They MAY, MAY get a fingerprint or touch DNA off of it....it's a longshot.
I'm not so sure. I have dropped a cell phone in a toilet before. After I took it out and let it dry for a few days, it started working again. The ring tone sounded a little "tinny" but otherwise it worked perfectly well and my contacts list remained intact.