Whistleblower's girl shares grief

Lindsay Mills, girlfriend of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The glamorous dancer girlfriend of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed her devastation at his decision to go on the run without her.

Lindsay Mills, 28, who described her boyfriend as "E" and her "man of mystery", said: "My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass."

Writing on her blog, she said: "As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I'm reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path. The ones I laughed with. The ones I've held. The one I've grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu. But sometimes life doesn't afford proper goodbyes."

She added: "At the moment all I can feel is alone. And for the first time in my life I feel strong enough to be on my own. Though I never imagined my hand would be so forced."

On her Facebook page Mills posted a picture of the sun setting over the ocean but did not reveal her whereabouts. There was no sign of her at the rented three-bedroom home in Waipahu, Hawaii, that the couple had shared for several months, and moved out of on May 1.

Snowden has said he told his girlfriend he was going away for a few weeks on a work trip.

In the extensive blog called "L's Journey", Mills, a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, says she specialises in pole dancing, partner acrobatics, and aerial dance and worked regularly over the past year with the Waikiki Acrobatic Troupe, a collection of around 30 dancers.

In July 2012 Mills wrote: "For those that have forgotten I moved to Hawaii to continue my relationship with E. It has been an emotional roller coaster since I stepped off the plane."

Three months later she added: "I was able to finally introduce E to my skeptical friends (they weren't quite sure E existed)."