Character died in Nether from digging up a lava source above him, but not before blocking the lava source block. When character died, lava dropped on top of inventory items for brief 2-3 seconds. When player returned to place of death after only two minutes, only a few misc. inventory items remained. The Netherite tools the player had on character (pickaxe, sword, shovel) were gone, with no explanation for their disappearance other than that they burned up in the lava after only being exposed for 2-3 seconds. The tools were nowhere to be found nearby (including under, beside, or over the place of death) and no players were on the server to take them. 

It is my belief that the Netherite items burned up in the lava after being set on fire from the stream of lava that fell from above. I dug up the surrounding area, and no items had fallen through or clipped into another block. All Netherite items were gone after only two minutes, with other items from the inventory still remaining, thus proving they did not simply despawn.