>Any explanations or suggestions appreciated.
The object must be in the definition .. it just might be sitting where you can't see it. It's possible the original programmer hacked the FRX file and changed the position of the item or items. I have done that in the past to get watermarks to show where I want them.
Edit the report and expand the height of each band in the report and see if the object shows up. Make them 11" or taller just to see if the object shows up. Another option is to hack the FRX and look for any objects that don't make sense.