The foremost method of locating the owner of a mobile phone number is to employ the use of a reverse look up directory that lists mobile phone numbers.
The public directories such as Whitepages do not supply you with the name of the individual who owns the phone.
Doing a cell number lookup through a free search internet site may give you a location such as city and state but fee free lookups do not have access to the extra info that paid reverse cell phone number directories have.
A reverse cell phone lookup site will deliver a ton more info than only the state and city.
The reason they can do this is that they pay for access to the info.
You'll need to find a directory that will give extended search results such as, the full name of the cell phone's owner, the current address of the cell phone's owner, address history, background information of the owner, relatives, neighbors.
Some cell number trace directories will even give you a detailed map of the mobile phone owner's neighborhood.
There is quite a lot of info that can be learned with a cell number and a reverse directory.
As I remarked about previously, these are paid directories which means there is a slight charge for using the service but if it supplies you the info you want and saves you bunches, it's worth it.
Most reverse cell phone lookup internet sites will let you screen whether or not they have info on the particular mobile phone number you are searching for before you have to pay.