'He said he hurt her': Daughter of JoAnn Dudek speaks about passing of her mother
PHOENIX - Today marks the two-year anniversary of when JoAnn Dudek went missing.
For the first time since her skull was found, we are hearing from Dudek's daughter.
It was just 5 miles from the family's home that JoAnn Dudek's skull was found in New River.
On Tuesday, we heard from JoAnn's family from Long Island, New York. Now, we're hearing from JoAnn's daughter Josephine, who lived in the family's home when JoAnn went missing 2 years ago.
The case is an active homicide investigation.
"My mom's, gone…"
JoAnn and Walter Dudek adopted their daughter Josephine when she was 6 months old. Years later things took a turn, Josephine ran away from home.
"I tried to run away when I was 15. I was 17 when I was rescued and I came back home to my parents," said Josephine.
When she returned, her boyfriend at the time moved into the family's Anthem home. In November 2022, JoAnn Dudek, went missing.
"I had hoped that she was still alive," said Josephine.
The night of Nov. 13, 2022 – Josephine said tensions were high in the family's home.
"I still loved them, I still did. That's my family, that's my mom. That's my dad," she said.
Her boyfriend wanted to get married and become her legal guardian
"There was pushback from my mom. (My boyfriend at the time) had crashed my mom's car and my mom was concerned about (him) being harmful to me. He wanted to be my legal guardian, but my parents didn't really like that," she said.
Josephine says the morning of November 14th, her mom was just gone.
"He said he hurt her," Josephine said. "I don't know if I should say the details, but he confessed to hurting my mom."
Maricopa County has said that no arrests have been made in the open homicide investigation.
READ MORE: JoAnn Dudek: Skull of missing Anthem woman found in New River, MCSO says
As months passed, she thought her mom would just come home. In April 2023, months after JoAnn went missing, her husband Walter unexpectedly died.
"That was the only family, that I had," said Josephine.
Two years later, Josephine learned her mother's remains had been found five miles from the family's home.
"I had accepted that I had lost my dad but I had not grieved my mom yet," she said.
No updates in the case
Josephine did not want to be shown in her interview with FOX 10.
We have asked the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office if there is a suspect, or any leads in the case.
They replied that there have been no updates.