not sure if i just haven't advanced the quest far enough yet, but i believe that i might have saved her in my playthrough. potentially, the only reason i can think of that might explain how, might be related to specific traits kicking in as some of them can actually change how events play out (though if this is the case, i do not know which ones are required for the outcome i reached). i will update if this changes.
i have advanced far enough, i know the game but j deleted my saves after the last update and she was wearing the wrong outfit and after meeting her she vanished again , normally you can interact with her and she explains why she works on the higheay and some of her backgroudn story.
but the bug got fixed last patch so it doesnt matter anymore