Another hour, another wrinkle in the Manti Te'o story.
According to TMZ.com, the linebacker who had a fake dead girlfriend actually had a real one following the "death" of of his hoax girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. The report says that Te'o dated a St. Mary's College named Alexandra del Pilar soon after the "death" of Kekua.
The two dated for two months and then broke up recently before the news broke about the fake girlfriend. The report, as well as another article on Buzzfeed, have a number of Twitter posts and pictures that show the two knew eachother.
Some of the Tweets include:
"Thank you @MTeo_5 for my car smelling so good :) pic.twitter.com/dsQfHtMD"
"Just making sure Manti gets home for the game tomorrow @chasehounshell pic.twitter.com/Tymbpxz3." Links to a picture of Te'o in a car, as does the first one.
"A month ago my Grandpa wrote this about @Mteo_5! Who would have known.. instagr.am/p/SLYwVptgXy/" The link shows a picture of a letter to the editor of the South Bend Tribune about a game featuring Te'o.
A retweet of Te'o's message: "Always and forever"
HERE is a LINK to the Buzzfeed article with all the Twitter posts.
From the NY Post:
"According to her LinkedIn page, del Pilar, a beautiful exotic-looking brunette, is a communications and public relations/advertising major at St. Mary's, an all-women's school which is less than three miles from Notre Dame."
The whole situation began Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported that it could find no record of Lennay Kekua existing.
They said the inspirational story about Te'o using his girlfriend's death from leukemia as an inspiration was found out to be a hoax. The report says that the girl Te'o claimed was his girlfriend was a made up identity and that the woman, Lennay Kekua, did not exist. Notre Dame issued a news release following the report, saying that "the proper authorities" are investigating a "very cruel deception."
More came out Friday, as Shelly Smith reported that others had fallen under the same hoax by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
According to ESPN.com, a woman spoke anonymously to a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told Outside the Lines Thursday.
"The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded."
The woman in her mid-20s spoke to Shelly Smith and said that Tuiasosopo started the hoax as a game, but it quickly spiraled into something more.
"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. ... The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'
She also said that this was not the first time Tuiasosopo had done something like this.
"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to," she said.
Notre Dame has supported Te'o, with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick saying at a news conference that he was a victim of a hoax. Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone.
"At the end of the day this is Manti's story to tell, and we believe he has the right to tell it, which we believe he is going to do," Swarbrick said.
Te'o issued a statement Wednesday afternoon:
"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her."
Te'o previously said that his girlfriend had inspired him to play better during the season and he helped the Irish make it to the BCS National Championship game against Alabama.
On Sept. 12, Te'o found out his 72-year-old grandmother Annette Santiago died and said that he was told just six hours later that Kekua had lost her battle with leukemia. After Notre Dame's 20-3 win over Michigan State on Sept. 15, Te'o said:
"My family and my girlfriend's family have received so much love and support from the Notre Dame family. Michigan State fans showed some love. And it goes to show that people understand that football is just a game, and it's a game that we play, and we have fun doing it. But at the end of the day, what matters is the people who are around you, and family. I appreciate all the love and support that everybody's given my family and my girlfriend's family."
He was asked again about his girlfriend on Jan. 3 prior to the BCS title game, saying: "This team is very special to me, and the guys on it have always been there for me, through the good times and the bad times. I rarely have a quiet time to myself because I always have somebody calling me, asking, 'Do you want to go to the movies?' Coach is always calling me asking me, 'Are you OK? Do you need anything?'"
Each passing day has brought out a new wrinkle on the story.
