NEW RIVER, AZ (AZFamily) -- Arizona's Family has learned new details in the homicide case of a missing Anthem woman whose remains were found in the middle of the desert a couple weeks ago.

JoAnn Dudek went missing just before Thanksgiving in 2022, and her skull was found in New River on Nov. 6, according to authorities.

Detectives have confirmed they have persons of interest in Dudek's case and shared some new clues about where she was found.

"That is an extraordinary development for our family," said Erin Murtha, Dudek's niece.

Murtha said it finally feels like things are moving forward, though the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office isn't naming those persons of interest.

"It has been a long two years of going down this path and waiting and having a lot of patience for the investigative process," said Murtha.

MCSO also revealed Dudek's skull and remains were found off the Interstate 17 freeway, south of New River Road.

Dudek lived in Anthem, and Murtha said she and her family flew out to Arizona several times to search, which felt impossible.

They now know their searches were just a bit south of where she was found.

"You think you know how big a desert is, but you don't really understand how big it feels until you're walking through 100 feet of it turning over every rock, looking for you're not even sure what," she said.

Dudek went missing from her Anthem home in November of 2022 amid planning a Christmas trip with her family.

She lived with her husband, adoptive daughter and her daughter's boyfriend.

Dudek's husband died a few months after her disappearance from brain damage.

Earlier this month, Murtha told us their extended family cut off communication with Dudek's daughter and boyfriend after being told some sort of altercation happened inside the home the night Dudek disappeared.

True Crime Arizona correspondent Briana Whitney tried calling Dudek's daughter this week to get her side of the story after her mother's remains were found, and she answered but as soon as Whitney identified herself, Dudek's daughter hung up.

Murtha said going into Thanksgiving last year was a feeling of hopelessness.

"There was a time there where the kind of sentiment in our family was like we're never going to find her," Murtha recalled.

This year, finally feeling there's a light at the end of this, hoping to bring Dudek home for Christmas.

"We do hope to be able to bring her remains back to New York and bury her with her parents, and I know at least for my family, that something they really want for Christmas to be able to do that," Murtha said. "It is very encouraging for us to hear MCSO has people of interest in this case specifically, and we're very, very hopeful that that means they are close to resolution."

The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner Dudek's cause of death and manner of death are still pending.

MCSO said that they don't have a specific timeline for arrests and charges.