The Las Vegas salon where a 24-year-old woman died in a cryotherapy
machine has been closed as her relatives are asking questions about the
way in which she died.
Chelsea Ake-Salvacion was found dead in the machine, police said, and
authorities said they believe that there was no foul play involved and
are not launching a criminal investigation into the matter.
According to a police report, it appears that
Ake-Salvacion had set the levels improperly on the machine, which uses
extremely low temperatures to treat various ailments, and "froze to
death."
The official coroner's report will not be released for six to eight
weeks and the case is being investigated, but the initial report filed
by the Las Vegas Police Department gives the most detailed insight so
far into the situation.
It states that the 24-year-old "got inside the cryotherapy machine to help reduce muscle pain."
The report states that she "was supposed to have assistance with the
machine" but she did not when she got in the machine on the night of
Monday, Oct. 19. She was pronounced dead the next day.
"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 her self to death," the report states.
Her body was found inside the machine by a colleague at the Rejuvenice
day spa. Police noted that there was nothing suspicious at the scene.
The facility has since been shut down, not because of the death but
because there was inadequate worker's compensation, according to Gary
Landry, the executive director of the Nevada State Board of Cosmetology.
In addition, the facility does not have the proper licenses to practice
aesthetician services -- which it offered, Landry said. Its cryotherapy
practice is not at issue, however, since that does not require a license
from the Board of Cosmetology.
There is no set timeframe for when the facility may reopen, Landry said,
but it will remain closed until it obtains an adequate amount of
worker's compensation.
Ake-Salvacion's uncle, Albert Ake, when he went to
collect his niece's belongings and to identify her at the coroner's
office, a worker there noted that the full cause of death report will
not be ready for at least six weeks, but "they wanted to reassure me and
my family that she did not suffer and that she died instantly, in
seconds,"
Ake said that his niece was a "passionate" employee who regularly posted
about the benefits of cryotherapy on social media, and even posed for
her spa's promotional photos, but that leaves him with questions about
how such an enthusiastic supporter of the practice could have died in
the machine that she championed.
