Sure not my field of expertise :waitasec:
But here it says that all it takes to locate (ping) a cell phone is for it to be turned on, so if MR was reading texts the phone was obviously turned on.
That's why I was wondering if it was true that there was absolutely NO ACTIVITY since the night before. Not just whether Dylan had communicated, but that the actual cell phone was unable to function, or never turned back on.
Cell phone companies can approximate your cell phone location by "pinging" it. When cell phones are turned on, they emit a signal. Cell phone companies can "ping" or contact the cell phone and discover the nearest tower the signal is coming from. Police and law enforcement use this method regularly to track down missing persons. It's illegal to access phone records for a cell phone you don't own, but you can ask your carrier to help you ping your own number.
Read more: How to Ping Your Cell Phone to Locate | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_6296518_ping-cell-phone-locate.html#ixzz2L1vRQqEj