Moto E2 4G LTE (Consumer Cellular) in soft brick - is there a way to save my photos?

[AC Question]

I bought a Consumer Cellular Moto E2 4G LTE in Nov 2015. No problems until last week when it stopped working. The battery suddenly went down to zero (I charge it nearly every night). Since then it is in a bootloop. Occasionally the time will flash on the screen. I called CC's tech support, but the rep said a factory reset appears to be the only option. They don't have the software to take control of the phone remotely and see what's happening inside. I took it back to Sears where I bought it, but the excellent geek who sold it to me no longer works there. Another fellow who was good with devices tried to help me without success. He called my phone and it rang with a different ring tone than usual, a rap tune (I'm 58 - rap isn't my thing). He said that the phone line appeared to be open, and said that there was no way to tell what had caused the problem. It could be malware, or the phone being dropped. I'd like to get the phone working again, and save my photos, which, unfortunately, I didn't back up. He suggested using the charge cable that came with to force the photos to back up to the laptop and then come back - he'd help me do a factory reset which would wipe the phone. Back at home, the cable that came with the phone was not collapsible as he thought, so I used my Jawbone cable. Unfortunately, the dialog box indicated there were no “new photos or videos” on the phone. I've read some posts about the importance of using proprietary cables - would the Jawbone cable prevent me from saving photos? Is there a way to retrieve the photos and get the phone working? Am I the victim of malware - has someone stolen my photos and contacts? Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.