Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o answers questions at the Notre Dame BCS national championship media day at the Loftus Sports Center. (Photo: Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports) She is a beautiful young woman, in her early 20s, fighting leukemia. Unlike Lennay Kekua, she is real. Jazmine Lutu smiles back from the Facebook page of her uncle, Titus Tuiasosopo. It is her cousin, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who several media reports say orchestrated the hoax that led former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o to believe Kekua had died of the disease when she never even existed. Tuiasosopo has yet to respond publicly to the reports. COMPLETE COVERAGE: Get the full story on the Manti Te'o hoax Yet some of the false world created around Kekua seems to align with the experiences of the Tuiasosopo family. Lutu's struggle with cancer is one of at least three parallels between actual events chronicled on the Facebook page of Titus Tuiasosopo that match fictional details in the Kekua tale. Lennay Kekua was never in a car accident, but Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was in a March wreck. A touching quotation Te'o attributed to Kekua after her reported death was the same one Titus Tuiasosopo previously posted on his Facebook page after a relative died in August. Reached on Friday, Lutu confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that she continues to battle cancer but declined to comment further about her family. According to Titus Tuiasosopo's Facebook page, Lutu was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in August. She was set to receive a bone marrow transplant. The fictional Lennay Kekua died at 22 years old in September after a brief battle with leukemia, a disease supposedly discovered after she'd been in a serious car accident. Brian Te'o, Manti's father, even told The South Bend Tribune in October that Kekua received a bone marrow transplant. In Sports Illustrated, Kekua's accident was reported as happening on April 28. It was just about a month earlier, on March 23, when Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and at least two male cousins were in a car accident. REPORT: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo confessed Te'o hoax to friend Around 5 a.m. on that day, Tuiasosopo was involved in a two-vehicle accident on California State Highway 14 near Avenue I in Lancaster, the California Highway Patrol confirmed on Friday. An officer reached at the Antelope Valley Station could not discuss other details of the crash or any injuries that resulted from it. On his Facebook page that day, Titus Tuiasosopo, who is the pastor of a church where his son leads the band, wrote, "This morning at the outset of our travels to Reno, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Team Worship were in an unfortunate car accident." Over the subsequent days, Titus Tuiasosopo's Facebook page detailed the recovery of two of his nephews who were hospitalized and at least briefly in intensive care as a result of the crash. The story of the accident is one Ronaiah reportedly told when he auditioned on The Voice, according to US Weekly. A third parallel comes in a quotation Te'o shared with his teammates before practice on the day he learned that Kekua had died just hours after his grandmother, who did actually pass away that day in September. MORE: Coach who recruited Te'o says this is 'blip' According to Sports Illustrated, he told his teammates, "My girlfriend always told me, 'Send roses while they can still smell them, tell people you love them while they can still hear.'" On Titus Tuiasosospo's Facebook wall, he offered the same message as the family mourned the loss of a relative in August. "Give roses while you can smell them. Tell them you love them while they can hear you," he wrote. Titus Tuiasosopo is a teacher at Paraclete High School, a small Catholic school in Lancaster, Calif. Efforts to contact him at the school – in person, and through phone calls and emails – were unsuccessful. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo has not spoken to the media since the Deadspin article suggested he is responsible for the hoax. On Friday, ESPN quoted an unnamed friend of Tuiasosopo's who said he admitted to orchestrating it to fool Te'o. "I know so much has been splattered all over the media about my son & my family," Titus Tuiasosopo wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday. "I also know that many who were born in a manger in Bethlehem & continue to walk on water will undoubtedly express their opinions. Those of you who know us the best still love us the most." MORE: Despite hoax, 'Sad Irish Fan' to keep up cancer work Lucy Nava, who claimed to be Te'o's aunt, responded, "THANK YOU TITUS FOR THE LOVE N SUPPORT U HAVE FOR MY NEPHEW...N GOD BLESS YOUR SON AND FAMILY AS WE SUPPORT HIM N YOU ALL AS WELL..FA'AFETAI LAVA" Te'o has yet to publicy answer questions about his involvement in the hoax and whether he used it to gain publicity as he finished as runner-up in Heisman Trophy balloting and led Notre Dame to a 12-0 regular season. Deadspin's reporting and an interview with Te'o's uncle, Alema, by The Zone Sports Network confirmed that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Te'o know each other. After the school came out strongly in support of its former star player, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in his podcast released on Friday that officials hope Te'o will address the story. "I don't have any specific knowledge as to how and when," Swarbrick said. "But I can't fathom a circumstance where it doesn't. I sort of share everybody's view that it has to happen. And we are certainly encouraging it to happen. We think it's important and we'd like to see it happen sooner rather than later." Tuiasosopo lives in a two-story house at the end of a cul-de-sac in a tidy, middle-class neighborhood in Palmdale, 10 miles south of Lancaster and about an hour's drive north from downtown Los Angeles. His street is currently lined with television trucks. A variety of media outlets are holding stakeouts. Friday afternoon, no one answered a knock on the front door. The porch was littered with notes and business cards of media outlets seeking interviews. Moore reported from Palmdale, Calif. PHOTOS: MANTI TE'O'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Story Highlights
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Te'o's fake girlfriend's 'history' parallels Tuiasosopos
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o finished second in the 2012 Heisman Trophy voting to Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Winslow Townson, AP
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Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, linebacker Manti Te'o and safety Zeke Motta talk to the press after the 2013 BCS Championship game. Alabama won 42-14. Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o is escorted by Miss Texas Ali Nugent as he carries the Lombardi Award to an interview room after a ceremony Dec. 5. Melissa Phillip, AP
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o leaves the field after his team's defeat to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 BCS Championship game. Alabama won 42-14. Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame's Manti Te'o reacts in action during the second half of the 2013 BCS Championship game against Alabama. Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o speaks during a press conference for the 2013 BCS Championship game. Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports
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One thing that has been remarkably steady in a season full of surprises has been the performance of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, center, taking aim at a Wake Forest ballcarrier Saturday. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Te'o against Washington as a freshman in 2009. Michael Conroy, AP
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If the USA TODAY Sports Media Group survey is any indicator, Notre Dame senior Manti Te'o at the very least will have the highest Heisman Trophy finish ever by a linebacker. Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame's Manti Te'o reacts after Notre Dame defeated Michigan 13-6 on Sept. 22, 2012. Darron Cummings, AP
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o played with a heavy heart against Michigan State after the loss of his girlfriend and grandmother. By Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o (5) celebrates after Notre Dame defeated the Stanford Cardinal 20-13 in overtime at Notre Dame Stadium. Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE US PRESSWIRE
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o collars Miami running back Duke Johnson in the Irish's 41-3 win. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o waits for the snap during the second half of Notre Dame's 21-6 win over Boston College in a NCAA college football game in Boston Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012. Winslow Townson AP
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, right, trying to slow down Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor in South Bend. Michael Conroy, AP
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o gives a salute as he enters practice at the LaBar Practice Complex in August 2011. Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, left, celebrates with defensive end Justin Utupo (53) after a Notre Dame win. Nam Y. Huh, AP
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Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o (5) reacts during the second half of a game against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE US PRESSWIRE
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o runs the ball after an interception in the first quarter against the BYU Cougars. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o leaves the field after his final game at Notre Dame Stadium, a 38-0 win against Wake Forest that helped propel the Irish to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in 19 years. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Manti Te'o celebrates Notre Dame's 38-0 win over Wake Forest. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o returns one of five interceptions by the Irish during the first half against Michigan. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o (5) and wide receiver John Goodman (81) celebrate in the fourth quarter against USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Notre Dame won 22-13. Matt Cashore, US Presswire
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Manti Te'o, Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish linebacker looks to become the first defensive Heisman winner since Charles Woodson in 1997. Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o won the Nagurski Award, given to the nation's top defensive player. Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
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