My items are disappearing

So I was playing and accidentally dropped my item that I was holding( an elytra) and it just disappeared.  I looked for hoppers and cacti or something that could have taken or destroyed it but there was nothing. I tested it with torches and cooked mutton and they disappeared too. It seemed to be in a 4x4 or 3x3 square that it would happen. Again there was no lava, hoppers, cacti or anything that could have affected the drop.