I don't see questioning this as a change of subject. But to be clear I'll stipulate the "NO WHERE ...", while stating the obvious, that that means one to Catholics and Orthodox and another to most Protestants.
I think it's very important that while they have died, they are not dead, and that consequently characterizing them as dead is really a mischaracterization and skews the consideration of the question.
You got your Witch of Endor, who presumably able to use mojo to compel Samuel to come up from Sheol. But then you have Jesus' declaration about the Patriarchs living to God. It's not a slam-dunk.
The condition of the dead is not the point. The bible uses the word dead too so changing the subject when that word is used is avoiding the inevitable. That prayer to the dead is unscriptural. I said dead again.