Family Says Man Burned To Death In Sauna When Timer Malfunctions
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NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – A South Florida family is grieving following the sudden death of their loved one.
Dennis Antiporek, 68, left a note Sunday night saying he was going to the sauna. Hours later, when he hadn't returned, his daughter went to look for him.
"When I opened the door, I looked and there was a black man in the sauna. It wasn't my dad so I shut the door and I looked, the clothes hanging it was his clothes," said Lara Antiporek, Dennis's daughter.
Click here to watch CBS4's MaryAnn Martinez's report
Ronnie Antiporek, Dennis Antiporek's wife, can't get the image out of her mind.
"I close my eyes and I just see his face charred," said Ronnie Antiporek. "And this sounds horrible, but there was skin on the floor and on the bench and we shouldn't have had to see that."
She says Dennis was her high school sweetheart. He died just shy of his 69 birthday and their 50 wedding anniversary.
The family has hired a lawyer who plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the management company and the condo's homeowner's association, Eden Isles Condominiums.
The family's lawyer believes the timer in the sauna failed to shut off the heat.
"First and foremost, we want to make sure that this community maintains a level of safety for all residents," said Attorney Joseph Madalon.
CBS4 reached out to Elite Management—in charge of care for the sauna. The company had no comment.
The association did not answer when CBS4 called for comment.
All though Dennis Antiporek's death was first classified as a natural, his body has been turned over to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy.
