I died and respawned, Areagne's death animation repeated and previous loot was despawned

Hi,

I killed Areagne, Forgotten Witch in the Grelwood. The kill was a couple of screens away from Witch Hut in which she is found.
I saw "Rough Greaves" in orange/gold and in my excitement to try to loot it (with full inventory) I was killed by other mobs.
I respawned at the checkpoint at Witch Hut, and immediately saw Areagne, Forgotten Witch die inside the hut (or at least the model's death animation play).
New loot dropped.
The loot that she dropped at the site where I actually killed her was gone.

Please excuse this post if this is intended behavior. Perhaps this mob belongs to a category where loot despawn is intended, but the repeated death and new loot dropping makes me think this is a bug.