His parents are divorced, he donated to Ron Paul, and his girlfriend has recently been contacted by NSA investigators

Edward Snowden never wanted to be in the spotlight. But his life will now be pored over and debated by a public curious to know the background – and motivations – of one of the explosive whistleblowers in modern US history.

So far, little has emerged about Snowden that has not already been supplied voluntarily by him.

When he identified himself as source of leaks to the Guardian on Sunday, Snowden spoke openly about his upbringing, education and work for the CIA and NSA, via defence contractors Booz Allen Hamilton and Dell.

He was also candid about his reasons for coming forward. "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them," he said. "I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

The 29-year-old, who will turn 30 next week, said he was "willing to sacrifice" a stable and successful life in order to leak the top-secret documents he feels shed light on the expansion of government surveillance.

His future is anyone's guess. He reportedly checked out of the Hong Kong hotel he was staying in at 12.30pm on Monday. A media pack has already descended on Hong Kong, desperate to track him down. In the longer term, Snowdon has said he plans to seek sanctuary, possibly in Iceland. New details about his past – the Edward Snowden before he was made famous – are hard to come by.

Unsurprisingly, given he was a passionate believer in privacy with knowledge of internet security, Snowden left little trace online. A full 24 hours after he came out of the shadows, there were only the barest details about his family. There were no interviews with high school associates, no new photographs, and no status updates from his Facebook or Twitter accounts, if indeed Snowden had any.

Snowden was born on 21 June 1983, raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, and later moved to Ellicott City, Maryland. His mother, Elizabeth Snowden, 52, still lives in the modest condominium the family once shared. She is known locally as Wendy and works as a chief deputy clerk in the federal courthouse in nearby Baltimore. CNN showed pictures of her outside her home on Monday, but she did not talk to waiting reporters.

The whistleblower's father, Lonnie Snowden, 52 – reportedly a former US coast guard officer who has since remarried and now lives in Pennsylvania – told ABC News he was still digesting the news but was concerned for his son.

The concern cuts both ways; in his interview with the Guardian, Edward Snowden said he was most worried about how his family would be treated. "The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more," he said. "That's what keeps me up at night."

Public records offered some clues about Snowden's background. Campaign finance data indicated Snowden made two donations, each worth $250, to the campaign of Ron Paul, the staunch libertarian Republican.

It chimes with a picture that emerged of a man with strong political views; although Snowden said he believed in Obama's promises in 2008, he said he voted for a third party.

Other parts of Snowden's account – such as his claim to have tried to join elite special forces – were confirmed by official sources.

"His records indicate he enlisted in the army reserve as a special forces recruit (18X) on 7 May 2004 but was discharged 28 September 2004," said the US army's chief civilian spokesman, George Wright. "He did not complete any training or receive any awards."

Some details emerged on Monday about Snowden's girlfriend, with whom he shared, in his words, a "a very comfortable life" in Hawaii, until his disappearance less than three weeks ago. The TV show Inside Edition identified her as member of an acrobatic troupe based in Hawaii.

For the public, Snowden's relationship with her may turn out to be one of the more intriguing questions about his backstory. It is not known how long they were together or how they met.

The couple lived in a house blue house with a neat lawn in Eleu Street in Waipahu. Snowden said he was earning around $200,000. "We occasionally saw him as he was coming or going, or checking mail, or getting the garbage," a neighbour, Carolyn Tijing, told local station KITV. Others described Snowden as private.

They appear to have moved out of the property on 1 May. Century 21 real estate agent Kerri Jo Heim told the Associated Press the owner of the house wanted the couple out so that the home could be sold.

Snowden's girlfriend may have realised this was anything but an ordinary disappearance around the middle of last week, when she received her first visit from NSA officials, accompanied by police.

That inquiry may have been a matter of routine; protocol would have required the NSA to investigate any unexpected absence by a contracted employee working on top-secret security matters. It is not known whether at that stage Snowden had been identified as a possible suspect involved in leaking classified information.

Other members of Snowden's family were also contacted by the NSA last

week. Snowden's father told CNN that she had returned to the US

mainland to be with her family.

When he left Hawaii, Snowden told his girlfriend that he had to be away for a few weeks, though he was deliberately vague about the reason. "That is not an uncommon occurrence for someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world," Snowden told the Guardian.

By then, he must have known that he knew he was never going back.