Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues.
If I place an icon on my desktop outside of any fence, it always goes to the upper left hand corner of my screen. Is there any way to get the icon to remain where I place it?
Try to disable "auto arrange icons" under "View"

I have noticed that when I do a Windows search for any file or folder that is inside a fence, Windows reports its location as on the desktop, not in any fence. In other words, Windows doesn't recognize the existence of the fence itself. Is this the way it's supposed to behave?
Yes, that is how Fences work. It just organize all your desktop icons into Fences area. All the Icons you see on Normal Fences are actually located in you Desktop. Only those in portal Fences is not.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.