Spa where employee froze to death in cryotherapy chamber shut down

The family of a Las Vegas spa employee who froze to death in a cryotherapy chamber say they don't know how someone who had so much experience with the machine could have ended up killed inside of it.

Chelsea Ake-Salvacion, 24, was found dead in the machine last Tuesday by a colleague at Rejuvenice day spa. Cryotherapy involves exposing the body to air temperatures below minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit in an attempt to treat a number of ailments. A police report obtained by ABC News says she entered the machine after hours on Oct. 19 to "help reduce muscle pain." She was supposed to have someone help her, the report said, but "Ake used it alone, it appears, she did not have the level setting at the proper height, she did not get enough oxygen, and she suffocated and froze herself to death."

Ake-Salvacion's uncle, Albert Ake, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the family was told she died in just "seconds." He also takes issue with the idea that his niece did not know how to work the machine, saying she was the chamber operator. "She knew exactly what she was doing," he said. Police do not suspect foul play, and the coroner's report is expected in six to eight weeks. The spa has since been closed, but not because of the cryotherapy accident, according to the executive director of the Nevada State Board of Cosmetology. Rather, it had inadequate worker's compensation and did not have a proper license to practice aesthetician services.

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