[Q] Photo recovery after factory reset topic

My droid mini was accidentally factory reset this weekend. It was my primary camera for the past year that held over a thousand pics. I regrettably have no backup. I have searched the internet and tried numerous things to get them back. I've tried several photo recovery software packages but I either need to have my phone rooted or have USB mass storage. I tried kingoroot, towelroot, and pwnmymoto to root my phone with no luck. My phone has MTP and no USB mass storage. A restoration company told me today that even if I was able to root my phone and retrieve the files they would be encrypted and unreadable. They recommended that I shelve the phone, wait 3 months, and call them back to see if they have come up with a way to unlock the encryption. Any help would be so appreciated.
Here are my phone's details:
Android version 4.4.4
Build Date Friday Dec 12