Would you just leave it there?
Yes, unless I just murdered the guy.
That's a pretty ridiculous view of things. The dead hold no property rights, so it is no longer yours once you die. The corpse decay sort of does put a wrench in that RP logic though, as does lotting a corpse being against the law. (I think)

The looting of a corpse in a random area is a part of CF. And it unfortunately should be expected when you die in any sort of area with high traffic, or if some lowbie knows you are there.

lowbies can and do have a very annoying effect in a way, because there are more than a few players who make a point of trying to vulture hero corpses. Lowbie thieves are notorious for this, cause you won't even know they are there just hoping you screw up. It's the same reason when you are killing a mob for a piece of gear, you turn on autoloot.