Information continues to spill out and new details will undoubtedly develop in the coming days, but this much we know is true:
There was never any Manti Te’o girlfriend. Whether this Notre Dame linebacker was in on the most startling death hoax ever perpetuated, or whether he really was a victim, remains to be determined.
But Lennay Kekua never existed.
Yesterday, in a surreal press conference, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the university has hired a private company to look into this mess.
But now someone else with knowledge of these scams has vowed to get involved.
"I am working on finding out more about this @MTeo_5 #Catfish story. I have been in contact with the woman involved and will get the truth," Tweeted Nev Schulman last night, the producer of MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show.
That dock-series assists folks who are in online relationships, helping them learn whether their partner is actually the individual described in his/her virtual profile.
The concept evolved from a 2010 film that was based on Schulman’s own experiences in this area.
Yes, "cat fishing" is now a known term, used to refer to people who create phony identities on the Internet and use them to deceive.
Do you think it applies here? Do you think Te’o was a victim in this hoax?