The story of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o’s fabricated girlfriend has links to Cal State Long Beach. Turns out her face belongs to an alumna.
CSULB alumna Diane O’Meara told NBC’s Miguel Almaguer that her picture was stolen and placed on social media sites as the face of Lennay Kekua, the leukemia-stricken girlfriend of Te’o.
“It’s very bizarre, and it’s a very twisted and confusing scenario,” O’Meara said. “I’ve never met Manti Te’o in my entire life. I’ve never spoken with him. I’ve never exchanged words, tweets [with him].”
She graduated from CSULB with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
“I have only a fond memory of her as a good and amicable student,” CSULB assistant professor of marketing Risto Moiso, who had O’Meara in his consumer behavior class, said via email.
Te’o’s tragic story started to unravel when Deadspin first exposed the true identity behind his girlfriend – being that there wasn’t one. Kekua served as a narrative behind Te’o’s senior season as he led his team to the BCS National Championship Game while battling personal tragedy, namely the death of both his grandmother and girlfriend in September. The couple supposedly met online through Twitter, and regularly communicated with each other through social networking websites and via telephone.
After his supposed girlfriend’s death, Te’o received a phone call in late December from the same number – and same voice – that belonged to Kekua, though he and Notre Dame administration did not speak about the matter until Wednesday.
Now, the Heisman Trophy runner-up is saying he is the victim of an Internet hoax.
“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,” Te’o said in a statement released Wednesday. “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.”
The Deadspin story points to Ronaiah Tuiasosopo from Antelope Valley as the fabricator of Kekua. According to the report, Tuiasosopo and O’Meara were once classmates.
“The past five years, [Tuiasosopo] has literally been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos,” O’Meara said. “Ronny [Tuiasosopo]has called and not only confessed, but he has also apologized. I don’t think there’s anything he could say to me that would fix this.”
Te’o told ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap that two men and one woman are responsible for the hoax, and he and his family agreed to be interviewed by Katie Couric on Thursday.
O’Meara did not respond to the Daily 49er’s requests for comment.
