I wanted to reactivate my acct last November, and they couldn't find it. It took 3months, a number of calls, and being very calm, but I got my acct back a few days ago.
Now, granted, it was, to a point, my not providing the proper info. I thought it was under one of a possible 3emails, but somewhere in the past, I had changed it to an email that belonged to small company I owned and had forgotten all about that email.
Ask them if they can check the for the toons name on your shard. Provide them with any email addresses you might have had, and be nice. They will want to go the extra mile for a nice person, and will only do what is required of them to someone who is a pain in the butt.
I last played this acct in 2003, so time is not a factor. Took me 3months, half a dozen calls over that 3 months, and being nice.
Good luck
Mac