I am obviously missing something here but I'm also not exactly impartial. So I'm thinking outloud.
400 yards (between 1/4 and 1/2 a mile) seems like it would be a
dream search for most SAR....compared to a 3 square mile radius.
1. Odds are if she WAS abducted and taken in a car,
her phone is probably not far off a main road...having just been dropped or tossed during the abduction.
2. If she was not taken in a car, then
her phone is probably really close to her...not having been noticed by the perp or if there was no perp.
3. If it was there, why would it have moved after the battery died...but not been turned back on...(like if someone just found it and decided to use it.)
Unless it was still with Kimmie and someone moved her after the phone died. :waitasec:
Either way assuming it IS still there...it seems it would be rather simple and/or very worth it to find the phone. A metal detector would likely pick it up if it was a bit under the ground, though there isn't much reason to hide the phone...unless it wasn't intentional.
If SAR can clear a 3 mile radius or a 5 mile radius and clear it, that a skeletal baby isn't in that area....then why can't they clear a half mile radius and ensure a cell phone isn't there? That really seems very reasonable to me and actually much easier compared to what they usually have to do.. :waitasec:
Article:
Police Treating Teen's Disappearance As A Crime
Police investigating the disappearance of a 16-year-old Puyallup girl tell KIRO 7 Eyewitness News they are treating the case as if a crime has taken place, although
they've found no evidence of foul play.
Searchers on the ground and in the air are focusing on a three-square-mile area surrounding the spot where Kimberly Daily was last seen, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said Monday,
while detectives are investigating tips with help from the FBI.
A GPS-equipped cell phone led them to the area, but
they could only track the phone to within 400 yards of its location, authorities told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Chris Legeros. The phone is now off.
Detectives are contacting registered sex offenders in the area and looking at spots where Daily visited, but the Sheriff's Office said there have been no substantive leads.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/24733541/detail.html