Manti Te'o is a star linebacker for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He is also the victim of a horrible hoax, according to the school.
The news story about Manti Te'o and his girlfriend dying has been revealed to be a hoax by the website Deadspin.com, who reported that there is no record of a woman named Lennay Kekua.
The Deadspin report stated that Kekua does not have a death certificate and Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name. According to ESPN.com, friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a high school classmate of Te'o, told Deadspin they believe he created Kekua.
Tuiasosopo is described in the report as an athlete from a football family who had cousins and relatives play football in college and in the NFL. The Deadspin report claims that Te'o and Tuiasosopo had met before and had communicated on Twitter.
The Deadspin report also stated that a friend of Tuiasosopo was quoted as saying he was "80 percent sure" hat Manti Te'o was "in on it," and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind. The report offers a full timeline of tweets and other communications via social media.
According to Deadspin, the only photos that have been found online that identified Kekua are actually pictures of another 22-year-old woman. That woman, not named in the report, told Deadspin one of those photos likely was shared by Tuiasosopo.
She said to the website over the phone: "That picture is a picture of me from my Facebook account."
Te'o will address the media on Thursday about the situation. The Deadspin report claims that Te'o and Tuiasosopo have a relationship and have communicated through social media.
