He was "unmasked" at one point. Last I heard - shortly after his disappearance - he was alive and employed. My take on his disappearance is that he just wanted to bow out of the limelight. Fair enough, IMO.
People started digging too deep, trying to unmask him, so he pulled the plug. I admire the people who do know his identity but kept it under wraps: kind of like a geek code of omerta.
Bingo, this is, as an acquaintance of _why, the main reason. Though I think it is more complicated than just one thing. Before when he got outed he was able to talk to the person and get them to respect his anonymity, but this time around the person wouldn't budge. He wanted his artwork to stand on its own, and has his reasons and I respected them so that's as far as it went.
Some people have jobs where it's discouraged to stand-out or draw attention outside of work. Doing so is looked-down upon and may lead to reprimand or termination. I have no idea if this was the case for _why, I just want to point that out.
Yeah can imagine there are jobs where it is required to stay "hidden". I think it is very interesting cause most times you can make a name in communities when good and at the same time popular people from the community are working for your company.
On the other side there are plenty of people who did or still do a lot to be popular in the community.
Last but not least I think the guy has earned some rest.
