Man, his family and friends were in on this too.
From the SI Article:
Before I went to campus, I had conducted lengthy interviews with Brian Te'o, Manti's dad, and Dalton Hilliard, a close friend from Punahou High in Honolulu who played at UCLA. Both said they were in frequent communication with Kekua; Brian Te'o told me he had received a condolence text from her after his mother died. They also spoke on the phone at length, as he did with Lennay's brothers after her "death." Hilliard said he received frequent texts and tweets from her.
"She was a very supportive, loving passionate individual," Hillard said. "She was all about God and prayer and being able to have faith. Me and her never met in person. But I felt like this was a testament to who she was. She would still text and tweet me before my games."
He added, "It was a pleasure for me to know her. The fact she made my best friend such a happy man, it's something that made me a happy man as well."
Son, how many of you cats would allow your "girlfriend" to have the number of one of your close friends, and text/tweet back and forth with that dude? Better yet, how many of you would waste that time on a chick that you NEVER MET before, just because its your homeboy's girl. Te'o HAD to be in on this. There is no other option left.