I've only noticed this issue happen when the MySpace profile page has been modified using those "pimp my profile" sites. These sites usually generate some CSS code that needs to be entered into the About Me section when editing the profile. Unfortunately, most of those sites usually do a horrible job of configuring things and don't do a good job of making sure things display properly on anything but Windows.
Your best bet would be to edit the profile and check the About Me box for anything that doesn't look like plain English and delete it. Save the profile and it should revert it back to the default MySpace look, allowing you to view the profile as normal.
The son's mom can also post a blog update to say that he has passed away (my condolences to her and the family, btw
) if she has access to his profile. She might also want to contact the MySpace people to inform them of what has happened and to see if they can possibly transfer the account to her in order to keep others abreast of what's happened.