EL PASO, Texas -- On Sunday and Monday night temperatures in El Paso were dipping in the 30s. That's when a Montana Vista couple were stranded in the desert near Cattleman's Steakhouse.

"The storm set in, and it got cold. We did what we could. We turned on the heat for a while and kinda snuggled up," said 24-year-old Ray Hill.

Hill said he took a friend to Cattleman's Stakehouse for dinner on Sunday night and ended up stuck in the desert when they tried to take a shortcut. Hill said they weren't able to call anyone for a long time, and then the situation went from bad to worse.

"We decided to go back on our own tracks, but they disappeared with the weather and we weren't able to do that and then a tire decided to go flat on us so we tried riding out of there on that and it didn't work," said Hill.

They had no food or water, and the temperature was dropping. When he finally got a signal on his cell phone on Monday morning, he called 911. The call went to El Paso Sheriff's Office, and then it was referred to Hudspeth County because of their location. But after more than seven hours later, no one was coming for help.

"Once we learned that they were still out there and that he established contact with our dispatch, that's when we sent our people out there to search for him despite him being in Hudpeth," said Jesse Tovar, with the El Paso Sheriff's Office.

Sheriffs started the search at about 5 p.m. Monday. Nine hours later, the motorists were found.

"Time was against us, and luckily we were able to find them minutes after their pickup became disabled," said Tovar.

The couple were found 10 miles from Montana. Hill said what might have kept them safe is melting snow in a bottle for water and turning on the heater inside the pickup.

Sheriff's officials stressed to the public not to take roads with which you're not familiar with especially in the darkness or inclement weather.