The Southern California woman linked to an elaborate hoax involving Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o said she thought she was "just comforting" the cousin of an old Antelope Valley high school classmate when she sent a photo of herself to the alleged perpetrator of the hoax.

In an interview aired Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show, Diane O'Meara, 23, said she went to high school with the alleged instigator, who she said used pictures from her Facebook page to create Te'o's fictitious girlfriend, Lennay Kekua. O'Meara's former Paraclete High School classmate, identified as Ronaiah Tuiasosopo in the Deadspin.com report that revealed the hoax, contacted her in December asking for another photo, she said.

 

READ MORE