NSA Whistleblower Leaves Hong Kong Hotel

Current whereabouts unknown

The man behind the leaks of top secret National Security Agency documents has gone back underground.

Edward Snowden, 29, checked out of the luxury Mira hotel in Hong Kong around noon Monday, Reuters reported.

The IT contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton and former CIA employee revealed himself Sunday in a passionate interview with the Guardian. He said he could not sit idly by, earning $200,000 at his cozy gig in Hawaii, while the government built an immense surveillance system in secret.

"I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building," Snowden said.