Basically, nothing I tried worked, including such tactics as following their instructions on how to delete my account. In the end, I had to put out an email beseeching a real human to help me. My initial response from them was the following remarkable message:
____________________
Your MySpace account has been deleted for violating our Terms of Service.
This is usually due to one of the following:
* Nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos
* Covering our banner ads with HTML
* Harassing other users
* You do not meet the minimum age requirement
* Spamming the classifieds, forums, bulletins, or other sections of the site
* Attempting to artificially inflate scores
* Scripting the site
Your account cannot be restored. If you choose to return to MySpace, please follow the rules.
____________________
Well now! While I was happy to see that my account had been deleted, I wasn’t a bit happy to see it done on these terms. I shot an email back to them, stating that I knew of no violation on my part, and that I would rather part with them on positive terms. I asked them to please explain this message to me. To their credit, a real human emailed me back about an hour later, apologizing for the “miscommunication” and reaffirming that my account had been deleted per my request.
So we had a happy ending, though with a bit of minor drama along the way!