True, they would have to get permission, I believe, from JC, and a court order for Jarral's phone I believe.
The other thing is, from what I understand (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!), pings can only triagulate an area between the three closest towers, and that triangulation might encompass an area between a quarter mile and several miles. I don't think it would show as one pinpoint. So if the area is not highly populated/close to a big city, the triangulation area may not be terribly precise at all (because the towers are so far apart). Might be swath of 3 or 4 miles. I have no idea exactly what the phone company can see, but I don't think it would indicate a phone so specifically that one could determine if two phones signalling in the same triangulation area were next to each other or a quarter of a mile or more apart. The closest I've heard of one being narrowed down to and eventually found was a quarter of a mile. If that's the closest patch of land they can narrow down one ping, I don't think they could for sure say whether two phones were pinging from inches apart or that quarter of a mile when the call was made. But I could be wrong! :twocents:
Anyway, if he did do that (faked the call), then he could have removed the battery after the call (they said no phone activity after that day--that may mean no pinging too) and at any time on his walk home or over the next 30 days he could have tossed Jarral's phone just about anywhere, no pinging.
In fact the 'no activity after that exchange/day' leads me more to believe foul play over the wandered into the woods/got lost, etc, because the likelihood of his battery just dying completely the same night he goes missing....
Of course, this presumes 'no phone activity' encompasses no pinging. :twocents: