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Fake girlfriend reportedly told Manti Te’o she faked death to avoid drug dealers

Found January 19, 2013 on Larry Brown Sports: Yardbarker Blogger Network
PLAYERS: Manti Te'o
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From Larry Brown Sports:

The person posing as Manti Te’o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, told the former Notre Dame linebacker in December that she faked her death in September in order to avoid drug dealers, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports.

According to a timeline of events provided by Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick on Wednesday shortly after Deadspin broke the story of Te’o's girlfriend being a hoax, the linebacker first realized something was wrong with the Kekua situation when he received a phone call from the number he associated with her while he was in Orlando for a college football awards show on Dec. 6.

The Star Advertiser says Te’o has told friends and family that the woman whose voice he knew to be Kekua’s called him in December and said she had to fake her death in September in order to avoid drug dealers. Te’o reportedly told friends and family that the woman tried to re-engage in a relationship with him. Te’o asked the woman to send him a time-stamped photo to help him sort through the matter. His suspicion remained even after receiving the photo, and he later told his family and the school about the scam.

Notre Dame said on Wednesday that Te’o alerted them about the hoax on Dec. 26, nearly three weeks after they say he received the bizarre phone call from the person posing as Kekua.

ESPN's Jeremy Schaap reported that Te'o told him a similar story about Kekua resurfacing in December with a story about having to avoid drug dealers.

Deadspin reported on Wednesday that a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was behind the Kekua scam. Tuiasosopo reportedly admitted to a friend in December that he scammed Te’o.

Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Sport

Original Story: http://larrybrownsports.com/college-f... Verified_ybn
9 Comments:
  • What would have happened to this story if Notre Dame won the BCS
    by EdmontonAB   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • ESPNMonopoly will now start pretending that it's a victim of Te'o's imagination, although ESPNMonopoly and its lazy network sheep are staffed with unbelievably lazy reporters who fear no competition. Every sports writer is trying to one up the other with the hope of being a national big shot and we shouldn't be surprised when these idiots get it wrong on a regular basis.
    by JohnMConley   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • So the fake girlfriend faked her fake death? I'm so confused.
    by orlandoeagle80   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • whoop ti doo.. Making a big thing out of nothing. It's already been done. Move on to a different story.. If hes gonna be punished then punish him. If not then switch to a different story already.. Theres more news out there!!! GEES give it a rest already!!!!!!!!
    by mrsgomez   January 22, 2013   Reply    
  • Receiving passing grades at university as a athlete is not necessarily an indication that the athlete passed the class. Universities often give passing grades (or better grades) to athletes, even if they didn't earn them. (Not sure how often this happens, but it does happen) Professors don't want to deal with the consequences of an athlete not passing the class. Looks like we need to conduct random knowledge testing for university athletes. Can't say I know anyone that would continue a relationship for three years without meeting the person (in person)-the girl in the picture is rather beautiful though. Perhaps he thought she was worth the wait. What is it that one of our recent presidents said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times...well you're just not going to fool me anymore."
    by uknow9   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • It appears he is crazy...this is total chick behavior. Maybe he's gay. Regardless, in the big scheme of things...who cares?
    Next...
    by Mallardman   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • What is funnier is how many people believed this story. What is the probability of the woman pictured dying at her age? What is the probability of his girlfriend and his grandma dying on the same day (unless they were driving in a car together)?

    He probably figured it out much sooner but didn't want to be made fun of by his teammates. If only he was a politician, all would be forgiven and people would have stopped talking about this already.

    How to make this go away? Perhaps the girl in the picture will take pity on him and be willing to meet him in person-lunch maybe. The press will take their photos, and write a story about it. We'll all move on.
    by uknow9   January 19, 2013   Reply    
  • The "woman" allegedly avoiding a drug dealer has been identified as being NINE YEARS OLD. And he couldn't tell? The b.s. meter is about to redline.
    by Agdoc12   January 19, 2013   Reply    
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