Apr. 7—A digital forensic investigations expert says mining data from cellphones in some cases can take months and that there are several variables that can impact how long the evidence-gathering process takes.

Some of those variables may be at play in the Glynn County police investigation into an incident on St. Simons Island on March 21 that led to 19-year-old Trent Lehrkamp being left by three minors at the hospital emergency room barely breathing, with a blood alcohol level of .464, his body spray painted and his clothes soaked in urine.

Part of that investigation includes gathering electronic evidence from the cellphones of the minors allegedly involved, police have said.

The Glynn County Police Department is working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to collect and analyze electronic evidence.

Gathering that evidence is not usually an overnight process, said Matt Ruddell, a digital forensics trainer with the Global Forensic and Justice Center at Florida International University. Ruddell currently trains in the MEDEX Forensics program and formerly worked in the digital lab for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"If the phones are all unlocked or the PIN codes are known and this case received the highest priority jumping all others in their backlog, it may be done in a week or two," he said. "If any of the phones are locked and they do not know the passwords, especially if they are iPhones, even with a (software) tool like GrayKey, it could take months or over a year to brute force and gain access to those phones."

Ruddell also said state crime labs can operate with backlogs of up to nine or 10 months, depending on staffing and caseloads.

Interim Glynn County Police Chief O'Neal Jackson said there is a team focusing on gathering the electronic evidence and that it is not in line at the state crime lab, so he doesn't anticipate it taking months.

"But it is going to take some time to No. 1, download the information, and No 2., wade through it all," Jackson said on Thursday.