A court appearance Monday solved one part of the mystery surrounding a Virginia man whose alleged talk of explosives landed him in a federal investigation: Russell Vane IV is alive.

Vane, 42, who uses the nickname “Duke,” had gone silent early this month after an anti-government militia he belonged to publicly disavowed him over concerns about his repeated references to bombmaking.

An obituary for Vane popped up online in early April, saying that he’d died in mid-March, but the notice disappeared after a couple days. A man who answered Vane’s phone last week told The Washington Post that “Duke killed himself.”

But Vane appeared, very much alive, in federal custody Monday for a hearing on charges related to manufacturing the deadly poison ricin, indications of which FBI agents found during a search of his home on April 10, according to filings in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The courtroom resurrection of a “dead” defendant and the specter of biological weapons are the latest installments in a strange story that shows how anti-government groups are evolving in an era of greater FBI scrutiny and landmark Justice Department prosecutions of far-right extremists.

Earlier this month, members of the Virginia Kekoas “prepper” militia took the unusual step of going public with their fears that Vane, who formally joined last summer, might be either a government informant or a dangerous militant. They gave the independent journalist Ford Fischer chat logs and other documentation showing how Vane’s talk of homemade explosives, Russian operatives and presidential assassination alarmed the group, which eventually removed him on March 10.

Acting on tips generated by Fischer’s report, according to court papers, the FBI conducted a search and found supplies for manufacturing ricin in the laundry room of a Vienna, Va., home that Vane shares with his wife and their young children.

Prosecutors say in court papers filed Monday that laboratory tests indicated the presence of ricin, which authorities described as “highly toxic, and can be fatal, if ingested, inhaled, or injected.”

“He stored it as haphazardly as one might an extra box of lightbulbs: on an ordinary high shelf in the laundry room, in a plain cardboard box, without even sealing it up,” prosecutors wrote in a memo arguing against Vane’s pretrial release. They wrote that Vane showed “disregard for the extraordinary danger he created for himself, his family, and his neighborhood.”

During the search, officers found 23 firearms scattered throughout the house, “including multiple unsecured guns in a filing cabinet drawer and closets, and one loaded shotgun leaning against the wall in the master bedroom, easily accessible by the children in the house.”

Vane’s attorney, federal public defender Geremy Kamens, said in court papers that the government’s charges are “extraordinarily serious and overblown.” The government, Kamens wrote, alleged that Vane “attempted to produce weapons-grade Ricin without evidence of such a capability, a means of dispersion, and without conducting a full investigation.” Kamens declined to comment.

Relatives and friends submitted letters to the court advocating for Vane’s pretrial release, describing him as a family man and noting his eight years as a reservist in the U.S. Marine Corps. (The Post verified his service.) They said Vane doesn’t pose a flight risk because of his devotion to his children - two from a previous marriage and two with his current wife. Both women added letters of support. Writing from a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean, Vane’s parents also told the court that their son was trustworthy, noting that he manages their retirement plans and rental properties.

“He has always been protective of others,” Vane’s mother wrote to the judge.

That’s a markedly different portrayal from the one that emerges in interviews with the Kekoas and in prosecutors’ court filings. Duke drew suspicions as soon as he contacted the militia in April 2022 to express interest in membership. In interviews with The Post, they said he told them he was a U.S. Marine veteran who worked in the intelligence field and lived in Northern Virginia.

After an extensive vetting process lasting more than a year, the Kekoas said, Vane was voted in as an official member last August. Within weeks, the militia members said, Vane began raising alarm with repeated references to explosives and their precursor chemicals.

On Feb. 5, according to screenshots published by Fischer and seen by The Post, Vane wrote to one Kekoas member: “Would you be interested in learning some things about HME or is that too spicy for this stage of the game.”

“HME?” the member replied. Homemade explosives, Vane explained, using a blast emoji.

That night, leaders of the Kekoas said they warned Vane that “we’re not about that.” Even after putting him on notice, they said, Vane’s behavior and remarks continued to raise suspicions over the following weeks, culminating in their decision to sever ties last month and publicly broadcast their concerns.

In court papers, prosecutors say Vane “engaged in an escalating sequence of unusual behavior that included apparent provocations for the group to develop homemade explosives.”

“Throughout his interactions with the Kekoas members, Vane made comments indicative of his interest in and knowledge of chemistry and the use of chemistry to manufacture dangerous substances,” according to the charging papers.

According to Fischer, who attended the hearing and summarized it on his X account, prosecutors said the FBI watched Vane for days before his arrest, noting repeated visits from Matthew Miller, a convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who received a 33-month sentence for assaulting law enforcement officers and other charges.

Prosecutors also wrote in documents that, before Vane’s arrest, “he was an employee of a United States government agency,” though Fischer reported that the employer wasn’t identified in court. Two Kekoas leaders - Eddie “Ice” Ray and Cody “Sasquatch” Beckner - said Vane had told them he worked as an intelligence analyst and boasted of ties to the CIA.

On March 9, Vane handed Beckner a manila envelope allegedly containing government documents about explosives precursors that Vane printed at work, according to court filings. Fischer reported that the passing of the documents was cited in court as the basis for the search warrant.

In making the case against pretrial release, Fischer reported, prosecutors described Vane’s “prepper” equipment, including cash and precious metals, guns and an “Apocalypse check list.” The materials were legal but made Vane “unusually well-equipped to leave jurisdiction,” Fischer quoted prosecutors as saying. Court papers say that Vane also tried to legally change his name on April 3, the same day an obituary appeared on Legacy.com.

Federal prosecutors declined to comment.

When asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter about the claim that Vane had tried to change his name and fake his death, Vane’s attorney said the conduct was intended to throw off “the jokers in that militia,” not the government, Fischer reported.

Porter ruled against releasing Vane, according to court papers filed Monday. In announcing his decision, Fischer reported, the judge cited the fake obituary, Vane’s bombmaking knowledge and a text he had written to another militia member about having explosives for “when the tanks come.”